I Think We're Alone Now
by Lia06
Summary: IT'S A GINNYOLIVER FIC! Ginny is a 22-yr-old single mother, Oliver is a 27-yr-old single guy. They're both teaching at Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

Title: I Think We're Alone Now

Summary: Ginny Weasley is a twenty-one year old single mother. At the birthday party of her twin brothers, Fred and George, she runs into twenty-six year old Oliver Wood, who is now a professional Quidditch player. Romance and chaos (caused by the twins) ensues. (Fred and Katie Bell are married, George and Alicia are married, Harry and Hermione are married, and Ron is dating Luna.)

A/N: I don't own Harry Potter and this is my first HP fic, so please be kind.

Oliver Wood walked into the Burrow, the home of the Weasley family, or rather the home of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. All their children had moved out. Charlie had married a Romanian girl named Maya and they lived in Romania. Bill had married Angelina Johnson, a shock to everyone who knew the couple but they were happy. Percy had married Penelope Clearwater and was sucking up to his father constantly because his father had been in the Order of the Phoenix before Voldemort's death. Fred had married Katie Bell, no surprise in the end. And George had married Alicia Spinnet. Ron was reportedly dating Luna Lovegood. Oliver had been shocked but then he talked to Harry who looked at him and said, "Well, it's high time he came to his senses." And all Oliver had heard from Harry and the Weasleys about Ginny was that she was still alive and she didn't live at home anymore.

It was Fred and George's twenty-forth birthday and their mum had insisted on giving them a big party. Oliver didn't see anyone he knew immediately. Then he walked into a young redheaded woman carrying a baby in her arms, knocking them over. Oliver gasped. "Oh I'm so sorry," he said bending over to help the woman up. He saw her face and immediately he knew that this was Ginny Weasley. Once he had her back on her feet he said, "Ginny?"

Ginny nodded. "It's me. Oliver Wood? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, your brothers invited me," he said. Damn, when had Ginny gotten to be so beautiful? She was so curvy and graceful, not like him.

She smiled. "That was nice of them. Would you like to see them?"

"Yes," he said. "Where are they?"

"They're in the backyard with Katie, Alicia, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Charlie, Maya, Bill, and Alicia. I was actually just heading out there."

"Well, then I'll join you."

As they walked out, Oliver said, "So is this one of your nieces?"

Ginny shook her head shyly. "This is my daughter, Calandra Rose Weasley. I'm not married. Her father is my former boss, but that's another story that I'm sure you don't need to hear."

Oliver nodded and followed her through the crowd of people out into the backyard. Fred rushed over to them and grabbed Oliver's hand. "Oliver, you old pal, how are you? It's simply smashing to see you."

George then came over. "Oliver, it's most delightful to see. How have you been?"

Oliver laughed. "I'm fine. Happy birthday to the both of you."

The twins smiled and thanked him. Then Harry came over. "Ginny, can I borrow Callie? Hermione and I are simply dying to spend some time with our favorite goddaughter."

Ginny handed her daughter over. "Just be careful with her and make sure that Lily and James are careful with her."

"Yes, Mum," Harry teased. "I'll treat her like she's my own daughter."

Lily and James were Harry and Hermione's three-year-old twins. Harry and Hermione had married the summer after seventh year and had been married for four years. Harry and Hermione also had a fourteen-month-old son named Sirius. Harry took his four-month-old goddaughter over to area where the other young children were playing. Oliver was calmly talking with Fred, George, Ginny, and Charlie about Quidditch when Charlie swore. "Shit! Why did he have to come?"

Everyone turned to see Michael Corner walk in. Oliver looked at Charlie. "What do you have against him?"

"He's Callie's father," Charlie said with pure rage in his eyes. "Right after Ginny and Colin Creevey broke up last year, he took Ginny to a pub, got her drunk and raped her. The result was Callie."

Fred walked up to Michael. "What are you doing here?" he snarled with pure hatred.

"I just wanted to wish my friends a happy birthday," Michael said innocently.

"You're no friend of mine," Fred hissed. "No friend of mine would get my sister drunk and rape her. No friend of mine would abandon my sister when the aforementioned incident left her pregnant. I hate you. If you don't remove yourself from my parents' backyard now, I will do it for you."

Michael stared at Fred. "Well, fine, I'll leave. But I want you to know that everything was just an accident. I didn't mean to sleep with your sister. It was just the alcohol. And I won't leave until Ginny tells me she wants me to leave."

Oliver looked at Ginny and saw tears streaming down her face. "Michael, you didn't have a single drink that night. I remember. I drank both your drinks and my own. I was so drunk I didn't know what I was doing. Michael, just go away. I want you out of my life and out of Callie's. Michael, get the hell out of this yard and my life."

Michael walked back out of the yard and, to Oliver's shock; Ginny was practically clinging to him. He wrapped his arm around her and asked, "Are you all right?"

Tears were still pouring down her cheeks and she was shaking. "I hate him. I hate him," she kept repeating the three words over and over again.

Oliver led her over to a chair and helped her sit down. She looked up at him. "I guess you know the story of where I got my daughter from. I just wish he hadn't shown up here. I haven't seen him since I found out I was pregnant. I left my job at the Ministry and started working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for Fred and George. I live with Harry and Hermione now."

Oliver nodded. "Are you going to be okay?"

She shrugged. "I think so. It was just a very unwelcome shock."

Oliver nodded. "Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to talk to your brothers again."

She smiled. "Go ahead. I'm not keeping you here."

He got up and walked over to her brothers confused by her cryptic response. Then he saw Professor McGonagall go over to her and start talking to her. He spent much of the party watching Ginny out of the corner of his eye. She didn't seem to be having as much fun ever since Michael had shown up.

Around nine o'clock, Ginny was sitting on the couch talking to Professor McGonagall. "Ginny," her old Transfiguration mistress said. "Professor Dumbledore is looking for a new Charms teacher. I seem to recall that you have a great deal of talent with Charms and I was thinking you should apply for the position."

Ginny was shocked. "Me? Teach at Hogwarts? But I'm only twenty-one. Surely there are older and more qualified people around."

"It never hurts to try, Ginny," the professor said wisely. "Just try. If you aren't accepted for the position, it's nothing lost. And it is an amazing opportunity. Just think about it, and owl me when you decide."

Ginny nodded. "I will. I am interested in the position. I was just a little shocked that I was being considered. I have one last question. What about Callie? Did Professor Dumbledore say anything about that?"

Professor Dumbledore himself walked over just then. "You can bring her with you if you take the position. The rest of the staff would be more than happy to help take care of her. She is a dear little girl, very much like her mother and nothing at all like her father. And Ginny, if you want the job, it's yours."

Ginny smiled. "Thank you, professor."

"It is all my pleasure," he replied.

Mrs. Weasley had invited Oliver to stay for the night since it was so late and he eagerly accepted the invitation. "Oliver," Mrs. Weasley said. "You will be sleeping on the couch. I'm sorry but all of my children are staying here with their families."

"And you don't want to share a room with Ron," Ginny put in. "Luna went home hours ago because they had another stupid spat about heaven knows what and so Ron will spend the whole night trying to figure out how to resolve this spat. So, like me, you're stuck in the living room." She said the last sentence with a bit of bitterness directed at her mother.

Oliver gasped. He was going to be sharing the living room with Ginny. Mrs. Weasley turned to him. "Oliver, I should warn you. Callie will keep you from sleeping most of the night. Her mother is a rather heavy sleeper and she cries and cries when she wants to eat."

Oliver nodded. "It's all right. I'll catch up on my sleeping when I get home." He could have Apparated home now but he was tired and just wanted to lie down.

Oliver had been asleep for almost three hours when he woke up to the sound of a baby screaming. He opened his eyes slowly wondering where he was. Then he remembered he was in the Weasleys' living room and the baby was Ginny's daughter. As Mrs. Weasley had predicted, Ginny was not waking up. He debated whether or not he should wake her up. Then he looked at the crying baby and went over to the couch Ginny was sleeping on. He said, "Ginny, get up. Your daughter needs you." She didn't move. He kept trying, but she wouldn't wake up. Finally, he shook her and her eyes flew open. "Huh?" she mumbled. "What's the matter?"

"Your daughter needs you."

She nodded and walked over to the cradle Callie was sleeping in. She picked up her daughter and carried her back to the couch. "You can go back to sleep," she said. "And I should warn you, I feed her myself."

Oliver wasn't quite sure what the last remark meant but then he saw her bare her left breast and hold her daughter level with it. Then the baby started sucking. Oliver started looking at the famous Weasley clock. This was too much for him. Ginny Weasley was a mother, a single mother. She looked at him. "I saw Professor Dumbledore talking to you earlier."

"Yeah," Oliver said, leaning his head on the pillows. "He heard that I was thinking about giving up professional Quidditch so I could have a more normal life and he was wondering if I was interested in teaching Arithmancy. Apparently, the old teacher left and he needs a new teacher before the new term starts in six weeks. He said he was offering you the position as the new Charms teacher."

She nodded. "Well, first he had McGonagall tell me it was open and I should apply for it but then he offered it to me. I'm going to accept it. It's better money that working at 3W and it'll be better for Callie. I feel like I've overstayed my welcome at Harry and Hermione's anyway, so this came along at the perfect time."

Oliver nodded. He was still uncomfortable looking at Ginny. He knew that it was perfectly natural for mothers to breastfeed their children but it was so hard to think of Ginny as anything other than Fred and George's sister. Thinking of her as someone's mother was so strange although Callie did have the traditional Weasley red hair.

Ginny was watching Oliver out of the corner of her eye. He had always been handsome when they were at Hogwarts and nothing in that department had changed recently. He still had dark hair and gorgeous eyes. He was still a long, skinny beanpole. She smiled; he was so uncomfortable with the idea of her breastfeeding Callie. She remembered once when Lily and James were about three months old; the Potters were at the Burrow for dinner and after dinner Hermione had been breastfeeding Lily. Ron had been so uncomfortable with it he left the room. Harry had seemed comfortable but Hermione told her that when the twins were born Harry had been anything but comfortable with the idea that his children got their food from their mother's breasts. After a few days though, he'd gotten used to it.

The pair sat in silence for a while. Finally, Oliver cleared his throat and asked, "How old is she?"

"Callie?" Ginny said. "She's almost four months old. She was born at the end of March, March 31 to be precise. She'll be four months old on Harry's birthday."

Oliver nodded. "She's so little. I have six younger sisters and none of them were that small when they were four months old."

"She was born over a month early," Ginny said, almost sadly. "She wasn't due until May 7 but she insisted on being born five weeks early. And she was so small when she was born, they weren't sure she'd make it. I was really scared when she was born. She was so small and her lungs weren't strong enough to support her." Ginny's eyes were filling with tears as she recalled the terror she felt when she was told her baby might not live. "It was so horrible. The mediwitches at St. Mungo's had her hooked up to these Muggle machines that they used for babies who are too small and they aren't ready to be born but yet they're born anyway."

Oliver walked over to the other couch and sat down next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder. "It's all right. She's alive now. You didn't lose her. It's okay. Shh, don't cry. Oh, sweetie, don't cry. It's all right. You have Callie now; she lived It's going to be all right."

Sweetie? Ginny thought. Since when does Oliver Wood call me sweetie? But she was grateful for him being there and trying to comfort her. She leaned her head on his shoulder. Callie seemed to be done and so she covered her breast back up and settled the baby in her arms so she could burp her.

Oliver looked at the baby. She was so adorable. She had soft red hair and green eyes. She didn't have freckles yet. He just wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her. He looked at Ginny. "Ginny, has anyone ever told you how much Callie looks like you?"

Ginny smiled. "The day she was born, Professor Dumbledore told me that she looked exactly like me and nothing at all like Michael Corner."

"He's right," Oliver said worriedly reaching out to stroke Callie's arm. To his shock, she grabbed his outstretched finger in her little fist and pulled his finger to her mouth. Then she started sucking on it.

Ginny smiled at him. "She likes you. She likes you a lot."

Oliver was shocked. "She does?"

"She does," Ginny affirmed. "She only sucks on your finger if she likes you. And she likes you very much if she decides to suck your finger this quickly."

Oliver smiled as Ginny leaned her head on his shoulder. A little later, he realized Ginny had fallen asleep as had Callie. He smiled and joined them in the lands of sleep. His last thought before he fell asleep was the daughter loves me; now I just need to get the mother to love me.

A/N: Well, please, please, please, no flames! I hope you like it. I'll update soon.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I hope you like this. I don't own Harry Potter. I live in the USA. If I owned Harry Potter, I'd be British and I'd live in wherever J.K. Rowling lives.

Ron walked into the living room the next morning and screamed. Oliver Wood was sitting on the couch with his arm around Ginny who was holding Callie in her arms. All three of them were sleeping. Ron screamed out of pure and utter shock. His sister was sleeping in the arms of Oliver Wood, well, sort of. Fred and Katie came running downstairs followed closely by George and Alicia. "What's going on?" Fred demanded.

"Why did you have to scream like the devil was at your heals?" Katie said. "It's only seven in the morning."

Ron just pointed to the couch in silence. George's mouth fell open and Fred whispered, "Oh dear Lord!"

Oliver's eyes flew open as he heard loud voices. Ginny and Callie were still asleep. Then he looked up and saw Ron, Fred, Katie, George, and Alicia standing there. "What are you doing with my sister?" George demanded hotly. "Why are you and she sleeping on the same couch?"

"She got upset in the middle of the night," Oliver said slowly. "It was about Michael Corner coming yesterday and I was comforting her. And we fell asleep. It was nothing more."

George glared at him. "I'd like to hear Ginny's version of that story but you do sound pretty believable."

Alicia put her head on her husband's shoulder. "George, I trust him. He's a good man. He wouldn't do that with your sister. George, he's an honest man. Just trust him. He is your friend after all. And it stands to reason that seeing Michael would upset Ginny. He did mess up her life entirely."

Oliver said, "Fred, George, Ron, I have nothing but respect for your sister. I didn't mean to fall asleep with her."

"Besides," Katie said. "They were both sitting on the couch. It's fine. Ollie isn't a jerk like Michael."

Oliver sighed in relief. The women who could convince Fred and George to do anything were defending him. He was safe. Just then he felt Ginny stirring next to him. She opened her eyes. "What time is it?" she murmured.

"About seven," George said.

"In the morning?" she asked.

Oliver nodded. She moaned and slammed her head into his arm. "Ugh, I haven't slept this late since Callie was born." She looked at the baby in her arms. "And she's still asleep! She hasn't slept this late in years."

"Look at her!" George said. "She's leaning her head against Oliver's chest."

Ginny nodded. "She seems to like him for some reason. When she woke up to eat this morning, I fed her and after I burped her, she fell asleep sucking on Oliver's fingers."

Katie smiled. "So Oliver, when's the wedding?"

"What?" Oliver gasped. "The wedding?"

"Yeah," Alicia said. "The wedding, you're the first man whose fingers Callie has ever sucked. She won't even suck her uncles' fingers or Harry's or Dad Weasley. She only sucks her mother's fingers. She won't even suck Mum Weasley's fingers."

Oliver gasped. "I'm only the second person whose fingers she's sucked. Whoa, so she really likes me."

Ginny smiled. "Yeah, she does. That's the kind of girl she is. She is very picky about who she likes."

Oliver went home after breakfast. When he got there, there was an owl from Professor Dumbledore waiting for him. Oliver took the letter off the owl's leg and read it.

_Dear Oliver,_

Greetings. I will be sending Minerva over to your flat in the next few days with the teacher's manuals for the Arithmancy courses. Please arrive at Hogwarts by August 20 for staff meetings. Please send me a letter telling me when I should have Minerva bring the books to your flat.

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts_

Oliver looked at the table where Professor Dumbledore's owl sat waiting. There was a snowy white owl sitting there. Oliver immediately recognized it as Harry and Hermione's owl, Hedwig. Oliver realized that Hedwig had to be about eleven years old seeing as Harry had bought her when he was eleven and now he was twenty-two. Harry and Hermione would probably need to buy a new owl soon. He took the letter off Hedwig's leg and read it.

_Oliver,_

Congratulations on being offered the job at Hogwarts. To celebrate, Hermione and I would like you to join us for dinner tomorrow night at six o'clock. Sirius would love to see his godfather; I know he misses you. He's just learning to talk. You should see him; he's so cute. He can only say things like "Mama" and "Papa." He calls Lily "Willy" and James is "Boo." But the other day he looked at me and said, "Where Owie?" which Hermione says means, "Where is Ollie?"

If you do come to dinner, Ginny and Callie will be there. Before, when you've come to dinner, it's always been on nights when Ginny has to close down 3W and Callie is at her grandmother's but they'll both be there tomorrow night. Remus may also be joining us for dinner but I don't know if he'll come. It all depends. Well, owl me and let me know if you can come tomorrow night.

Sincerely,

Harry Potter

Oliver immediately replied to Harry saying he most certainly be at dinner the next evening. He missed his godson, Sirius Oliver Potter. Harry and Hermione had insisted giving Sirius the middle name "Oliver" and on Oliver Wood being his godfather because of Oliver's role in the battle in which Harry had killed Lord Voldemort. And it was because of Sirius's birth that Oliver had decided to quit playing professional Quidditch.

Oliver then wrote to Professor Dumbledore telling him Professor McGonagall could come over the next day around noon. He smiled thinking of the two professors. For ages, he had, like everyone else, presumed that they were just very good friends. But two years after he graduated, he discovered that they were married. That summer he had discovered a lot of things. He had discovered the Order of the Phoenix that summer.

**Flashback**

Oliver had gone over to the Weasleys for dinner. After dinner, Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had gone out in the backyard to de-gnome the garden. They told Mrs. Weasley it would be fun. She just sighed and let them go. Once they were gone she said, "They just want to torture the gnomes. Those six!" She sighed. "Fred and George don't even live here anymore but whenever they're home they have to torture the gnomes."

Oliver was sitting in the living room talking to Bill when someone knocked on the door. Mrs. Weasley answered the door. "Remus! What a surprise!"

It was even more of a surprise for Oliver when his old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher walked into the room. Bill jumped up. "Remus! How are you?"

Professor Lupin, as Oliver had known him, smiled. "I've been well. I'm here on business. Could you call Harry in here, Molly?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Do you need anyone else?"

"Who else is out there?"

"The twins, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny."

"Get them all. This is big."

A minute later, Harry came in being closely trailed by Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and the twins. "What's the big new, Remus?" Harry said. "This better be better than last time when you finally decided to tell us that Dumbledore and McGonagall are married."

"Dumbledore and McGonagall are married?" Oliver asked.

"Yep, they've been married for like forty years," Ginny said offhandedly.

"And they never told the students?" Oliver said.

"Nope," Harry said sitting down next to Oliver. "It's a long story and I don't have that kind of time. Remus, is he allowed to hear what you're going to tell us?" He was pointing to Oliver. "He's not in the Order but he's a nice guy and he was in Gryfinndor."

Remus looked at Oliver. "Son, have you ever heard of something called the Order of the Phoenix?"

Oliver shook his head slowly. "Never in my life, why?"

"Because you just found yourself in the middle of one of its meetings," a new voice said. Professor Dumbledore walked in closely followed by Professor McGonagall and Alastor Moody. "Everyone, sit down."

Everyone sat down and McGonagall spoke, "Wood, you can either leave now or stay and find out what the Order of the Phoenix is and join its ranks. This much I will tell you before you decide. The Order of the Phoenix is essentially an army for fighting Voldemort."

Oliver looked around the room at the faces gathered. This seemed real. He nodded. "I'll stay."

**End Flashback**

Oliver sighed remembering that night. He had found out what the Order of the Phoenix was and joined with them in fighting the Dark Side.

When Ginny got home, she found a letter from Dumbledore just like Oliver's waiting for her. She told him McGonagall could come by around dinnertime and stay for dinner. She showed Hermione the letter. "It's all right if she does that, isn't it?"

Hermione smiled. "Of course, I'm sure she'd love to see her godchildren. I should warn you though. Oliver is also coming to dinner. He wants to see his godson."

"All right," Ginny said. "That's fine. Hold it; who is Oliver's godson?"

"Sirius Oliver Potter," Hermione said. "It's in honor of the part he played in defeating Voldemort."

Ginny nodded. "And Lily and James are McGonagall's godchildren."

"James Albus Potter and Lily Minerva Potter, their godparents are Dumbledore and McGonagall."

Ginny nodded. "Well, I need to get to work. Someone has to open up 3W, you know."

Ginny stood behind the counter of 3W. There were a few teenagers looking around but nothing interesting was happening. Most of their customers were teenaged boys. Suddenly, Fred walked out of the fireplace with Katie and their children, Arthur, Molly, and Maggie. "So, how's business?" he asked.

"Slow," Ginny replied. "Most people are just browsing. You know, it's one of those days."

Fred nodded. "Katie has to take the munchkins shopping, so I brought her in with me."

Ginny smiled. "Is George coming in today?"

"No," Fred said. "Apparently, he has to go check something out up at the Hogsmeade shop. Apparently there was an explosion or something. It was huge mess, so he's going to deal with it."

Ginny nodded and watched as Katie and Fred kissed. Then Katie left with their children to go shopping. Fred came back behind the counter to join his little sister. "So, what do you think of Oliver Wood?"

She shrugged. "He's nice and he seems to like Callie. Better yet, she seems to like him. And he's handsome. He's a good guy. I like him. I don't know. I guess I could date him; he seems like he'd be okay with dating a single mother and all."

"He would be," Fred said. "I talked to him this morning while you were upstairs getting dressed, all of us talked to him. He respects you and he is interested in you."

Ginny smiled. "Well, thanks for the lowdown. Now I have a question. Does he really have six younger sisters or was he just teasing me last night?"

"Oh he has six younger sisters," Fred said. "Six annoying bratty little sisters. They're all several years younger than him. The closest to him in age is eight years younger than him. When I was younger and you were annoying me, I'd go over there and be instantly grateful that you were my sister. You don't spend hours talking about boys or doing your make-up. You're reasonable. In fact, compared to them, you're an angel."

"I didn't know he had siblings. I thought he was an only child."

"Yeah, well, see if you only ever saw him at Quidditch stuff, you'd think that because his sisters never go to that kind of stuff. He thinks they're just dumb blondes."

"Are they blondes?"

"Most of them, yeah," said a lilting Scottish accent.

Ginny looked up and saw Oliver Wood. Fred ran to him. "Oliver, I must show you our latest products to arrive."

"Or rather that you and George have invented," Ginny muttered. "You make all your products in the back room."

"Please ignore my sister. She believes in being honest," Fred said.

Oliver smiled. "I don't have a problem with honest people. I was actually on my way to Flourish and Blots when I saw Michael Corner headed this way and I thought I'd stop in and warn you two."

Fred nodded. "Ginny, go in the back and do something there. Oliver, act natural, like a regular customer."

Ginny went in the back room barely a minute before Michael walked in. He walked up to Fred. "How's your sister?"

"Leave now and never come back," Fred said coldly. "I reserve the right to expel customers from my shop forcibly and I will do that if you don't leave now. Stop bothering my sister. Last night, she told you she never wanted to see you again. Just leave her alone."

"But I have a right to see my daughter," Michael said.

"What if she isn't your daughter?" Oliver said.

"What?" Michael said. "But she got pregnant right after that night with me."

"And she spent the next week with me," Oliver said. "Callie is my daughter; I just didn't know about her until last night. I'd been out of town with the National Team for the past ten months."

Michael looked at him. "Are you serious?"

"Of course he's serious," Fred said. "That kid has Oliver's eyes most definitely. Now, shoo, get out of here."

After Michael left, Ginny flew out of the back room. "Oliver, why did you say that? Why did you say you were Callie's father?"

"I figured Michael wouldn't leave you alone as long as he thought he was Callie's father and besides he doesn't deserve you and Callie, so I had to come up with a reason for him to get out of your life."

Ginny hugged Oliver. "Thank you so much, Oliver. You have no idea how much this means to me." She kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

He hugged her back. "You're welcome. Ginny, it's the least I could do for a friend. You don't deserve a jerk like him."

Fred nodded. "You deserve so much more, so much better. You deserve someone like Oliver. You know what? You two should try dating each other, especially if Oliver is Callie's father," he said with a wink.

Ginny slugged Fred playfully. "Fred, you're too much." Then she kissed Oliver's cheek again. "Oliver, you're the best."

A/N: I hope you like it. Please review and no flames, please!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviews. I don't own Harry Potter. I hope you enjoy this.

Oliver sat down next to Ginny in the back room. "So, you don't mind that I said I was Callie's dad? I mean, I was probably in Puddlemore then."

"Okay, where were you at the end of last July and the beginning of last August?" Ginny asked.

Oliver thought for a moment. "Umm, I was in London visiting Harry and Hermione. Sirius was about two months old and I was visiting my favorite godson."

"Okay, you were around when I got pregnant. I have another question. What was your role in the battle the night Voldemort died? I remember you being there but I don't remember very much of what happened because Lucius Malfoy attacked me and knocked me out."

"Well, do you remember where the fight was?"

She nodded. "It was in the Great Hall at school. I remember afterwards the room was a mess."

"Okay, so you remember that the Death Eaters stormed the Great Hall, Dumbledore got all the students out except you, Ron, Harry, and Hermione."

She nodded.

"And the members of the Order of the Phoenix were there already."

"And it was a huge battle. I remember most of it except the part where Harry killed Voldemort."

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember Malfoy sneaking up behind Harry, I screamed, he turned around, and I woke up the next morning in the hospital wing."

"Then you need some major details filled in," Oliver said. "Get comfortable because this is going to take quite some time."

**Flashback**

Lucius Malfoy hurled four curses at Ginny Weasley in about thirty seconds it seemed. She fell to the floor unconscious. Bill Weasley yelled, "You fucking bastard!" and flew at Malfoy screaming, "Avada Kedavra!" Malfoy fell to the floor, dead.

Then all hell broke loose. Bellatrix Lestrange rushed at Bill to kill him but Oliver Wood killed her first. Bill looked at Oliver, "Thanks, man." Oliver spun around and killed a man attacking Harry. Then they looked up to see Pettigrew attacking McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore swore under his breath and attacked Pettigrew, killing him. Lupin who was standing next to Oliver and Bill said, "I've never seen him that angry before."

Then Voldemort and Harry began circling. The room went deathly silent. It seemed as though Voldemort and Harry were both waiting for the other one to make the first move. It seemed like an eternity before Harry finally pointed his wand at Voldemort and yelled in the loudest and angriest voice anyone had ever heard, "You killed my parents; I hate you! You destroyed the lives of hundreds of innocent people; you deserve death! Other people might be more lenient with you but I won't be. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

At that same moment, every other member of the Order of the Phoenix pointed their wands at the Death Eaters and killed them in the exact same way Harry had killed Voldemort. Oliver and Bill rushed to Harry's side followed closely by Lupin and Tonks. Harry looked at Tonks and her magenta hair in its Shirley Temple curls. "We did it. It's over. We really did it and it's really over."

A minute later, Professor McGonagall had Harry enveloped in a huge hug. They were both crying tears of joy and grief, joy that Voldemort was gone and grief for those who had given their life in the fight. Oliver saw the Harry was clinging to the woman's robes as if for dear life. When Harry let go of his teacher, he fell into Mrs. Weasley's arms and then hugged Tonks again. Then, he kissed Hermione and looked her in the eye. "I know this is kind of a bad time, but Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"

Hermione stared at him in shock and then kissed him for a full two minutes. "That meant yes," she said. "Now, let's get this place cleaned up."

Harry nodded. He and Bill carried Ron up to the hospital wing while Fred and Charlie took care of Ginny. George had to hobble up between Lupin and Wood since his leg had been broken. Finally, all the dead had been taken to someone who would see that the bodies were returned to the families and all injured were in the hospital wing. Harry, Oliver, Charlie, Fred, and Bill were just standing around the hospital wing waiting. Professor McGonagall looked at them. "I'm going to spend tonight with my husband, so if you five want my rooms, they're yours. Harry, I know you're not ready to go back to your house. Hermione wants to stay here with Ginny, so you don't have to worry about her."

"Thanks, Professor," Oliver said.

"Yeah, thanks," Bill said. "We'll take you up on that offer, if you don't mind us conjuring up more beds in your room."

She laughed. Then she smiled and nodded. "Go ahead. If you need to make the room bigger, have fun."

Bill smiled his thanks. "Oh, professor, one last question."

"What is it?"

"Can I have Angelina in there? Can Fred have Katie in there? And can Charlie have Maya in there?"

She moaned. "Go ahead. Oliver, Harry, if you want to sleep in my office, it is there."

Harry said, "We will. We wouldn't get any sleep in the other room anyway."

Oliver nodded. "What with all the celebratory sex and all, we'll be glad to have your office because some of us actually want to sleep."

Harry walked out of the room saying, "I could sleep for twenty years if I wanted to."

**End Flashback**

Ginny looked at Oliver. "You saved Bill's life? Without you, I wouldn't have my oldest brother." She kissed his cheek. "Thank you. And thank you for saving Harry."

He smiled. "You're welcome but just so you know, it was part instinct. And I wasn't about to let them kill my best friends."

Oliver was amazed that she was just warming right up to him. He put his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his shoulder. "You're amazing, you know," she whispered. "You saved my brother's life, you saved Harry's life, and you claimed to be Callie's father just to help me. Oliver, you're an angel and the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Oliver kissed the top of her head. "Ginny, you know I just did that out of instinct."

"Yeah but it was still amazing. Don't discount yourself."

He smiled. "Your brothers are trying to set the two of us up, you know."

She nodded. "I know. Fred told me."

"Do you mind?"

"Do you?"

"I asked first," Oliver insisted.

"Not really," she said shyly.

He kissed her on the lips. "I don't mind either."

Ginny put her hand on Oliver's shoulder cautiously. "Oliver, we need to take this slowly. I mean, I can't just go out there and do whatever I what to. I have a daughter to worry about. Callie's the most important thing in my life."

Oliver nodded. "I know. I know how important your daughter is to you. And, moreover, I need to move slowly too. I haven't been in a serious, long-term relationship since my seventh year at Hogwarts. And I'm making a ton of changes in my life. I'm quitting playing Quidditch professionally and I've been doing that for eight years. I'm starting a new job, well, so are you but the point is I understand. We need to go slowly so no one gets hurt."

Ginny smiled. "Good, I'm glad you get it."

Fred walked in. "Are you two done in here yet? I want to blow something up. I haven't gotten to blow anything up in ages."

Ginny jumped off the crate she and Oliver were sitting on and patted her brother's shoulder. "We're done. I'm going back to work."

Oliver and Ginny walked back into the shop. Oliver hugged Ginny. "Well, I'll see you at dinner tomorrow night."

"Okay," she said. "Just to warn you, McGonagall is coming to dinner. She's bringing my teacher's manuals over and dinnertime was the only time that worked for me, so we asked her to stay for dinner."

Oliver smiled. "Okay, well, good-bye."

"Good-bye."

Fred walked back into the shop about an hour after Oliver left. "You want to know something funny?" he asked his little sister who was ringing up a customer's order.

"Could you wait until I'm done here?" she asked.

"Sure," Fred said, sitting down on the counter.

When the line of customers had bought their purchases and left, Ginny looked at her brother. "What's your news that is so urgent you had to interrupt business?"

"Do you know who Oliver's last serious relationship was with?"

Ginny shook her head. "But I think you're going to tell me."

"Katherine Theresa Bell," he said.

"Katherine Theresa Bell," she said slowly. "As in Katherine Theresa Bell-Weasley more commonly known as Katie Weasley, nee Bell? As in, Oliver's last serious relationship was with the woman you're now married to?"

Fred nodded. "That would be correct, my lady."

Ginny shook her head. "Whoa, that had to have been an interesting relationship."

"Oh, it was," Fred assured her. "Ollie is two years old than her and they started dating when he was a fifth year and she was a third year. They dated for two glorious years and then broke up because all they did was play Quidditch and fight."

Ginny laughed. "Surely they did more than that."

"Well, they also enjoyed making out on the couch in the common room," Fred joked. "But that's about it. They just played Quidditch, made out, and fought. It was a pointless relationship. I was so much better for Katie."

Katie walked into the shop just then. "I have two things to say. One is a question and the other is a statement. The question is who were better for me than?"

"Oliver Thomas Wood," her husband replied.

She smiled. "Okay, Fredrick, think what you want."

"What's your statement?" Ginny asked.

"It's closing time," she said pointing to the clock on the wall.

"I'll close up," Fred said. "Ginny, you go home."

Ginny hugged her brother. "Thanks. Katie, good luck with this idiot."

Katie hugged her sister-in-law. "Don't worry, Gin, I'm used to him. I can control him no problem. Remember, I am the mother of his children."

Ginny laughed and walked out.

Ginny walked into the Potter flat to see Harry sitting on the floor with Sirius on one leg and Callie cradled in his leg. Lily and James were play around their father. James looked up when he heard her come in. He jumped up and ran over to her. "Auntie Ginny! Auntie Ginny!"

She picked him up. "James! James! How was your day?"

The little boy smiled. "I had fun! Mommy helped Lily and I make biscuits! They're very good biscuits too."

Harry laughed. "The kid has no ego problems."

Ginny walked over to him and set James down next to his father. Then Harry handed Callie to her. "She misses you when you're at work, you know," he said.

Ginny sat down on the couch with her daughter. "I know but we need the money. I can barely afford to pay my rent to you and take care of both Callie and myself."

Harry smiled. "If you want me to lower your rent for the next month, I will. Ginny, you're leaving for Hogwarts in a month. Calm down. Don't put yourself under so much stress. It's not good for you. Callie needs you healthy."

Ginny smiled. "All right, I'll try."

"You'll do more than try," Harry said. "I've arranged it with Fred. You're starting at nine and coming home at five, no more of this seven to six or seven stuff. I want you healthy and strong."

Ginny kissed her daughter's forehead and nodded. "I'll try to take care of myself better, for Callie's sake."

The next morning, business was slow and both the twins were in Hogsmeade, so Ginny was having a pretty quiet morning. Suddenly, Michael Corner walked into the shop. "Hey, baby," he said haughtily. "You want me?"

She cringed. "Michael, go away. Just leave me alone. I don't want anything to do with you."

"I have one question for you, babe," he said, trying to sound suave. "Is Callie my daughter?"

"No," Ginny said hesitantly. "No, she's not."

"I don't believe you," Michael said. He grabbed her and shoved her against the wall. His hands were everywhere on her body. He was groping her and reaching up under her shirt.

Tears were pouring down Ginny's cheeks. If only Fred or George were there, they could protect her. Oliver, her mind cried out. Oliver, I need you. Oliver, help! She was crying out in her mind desperately for Oliver to come and help her.

Oliver was sitting in his living room reading _The Daily Prophet_ when he heard a loud POP. He looked up. "Oh, hello, Professor McGonagall," he said calmly, as if people just popped into his living room every morning at noon precisely.

"Wood," she said with a smile on her face. "So, you're coming back to teach with us now?"

He nodded. "I guess I am. It's a lot better for me than playing Quidditch. So, why did Professor Vector leave?"

McGonagall shrugged. "I guess age. She didn't really say. She just handed in her resignation to Albus at the end of last term." She handed him a package wrapped in brown paper. "These are your books. There's one book that Professor Vector took with her when she left. It's the seventh-year book. You'll need to pick it up from Flourish and Blots soon."

Oliver nodded. "Thank you, Professor. I'll do that."

"Well, I may see you at the Potters' when I take Ms. Weasley her books this evening. In fact, I will since Albus and I have also been invited to dine with them."

"Well, then I'll see you then."

"I'll see you there; good-bye, Wood," she said and then disapparated with a loud POP.

Oliver then left for Diagon Alley. He wanted to get that book as soon as he could.

Michael was trying to force himself on Ginny. "Oliver!" she screamed. "Oliver, help me!"

Michael bit her neck. "Shut up, whore. He's not coming to help you; face it, bitch. You were just an easy fuck to me and I want another easy fuck. That's all I want out of you. I don't care about Callie; she probably is Wood's daughter what with the way you're crying out for him now."

"Get away from me, Michael!" she screamed as he ripped her shirt off her body. "I'm not a whore and I'm not your fuck."

"Oh shut up, bitch!" he yelled, pushing her down to the floor.

Oliver walked out of Flourish and Blots with his book. He decided to stop in at 3W to see the twins and Ginny. But as he walked by the shop he saw that it was empty. Then he heard a woman screaming. He knew instinctively that it was Ginny. He walked into the shop and saw a man's arm throwing a woman's skirt over the counter. Then he heard a man's voice scream, "Ginny, all you are is an easy fuck, a very easy fuck. You're just a dumb whore."

Oliver grasped his wand firmly in his hand. He was filled with wrath. "She is not a whore!" he yelled.

Michael stood up. "Oh look, it's the father of the bitch's brat."

Oliver grabbed Michael and threw him on the floor. Then he kicked him across the floor. "Leave now!" he bellowed. "Leave Ginny alone. She's not a whore or a bitch or an easy fuck. She's a good person. The only reason she had sex with you was because you got her drunk."

"Oh yeah? Why'd she have sex with you?"

"She was so torn apart by your actions that she came to the Potters' looking for Hermione. They weren't home but I was babysitting Lily, James, and Sirius. They were all in bed. She told me what had happened and she told me that she felt like she wasn't worthy of being called a woman anymore. She asked me if people would ever consider her a woman after what you did to her. I took her into Harry and Hermione's bedroom and proved to her that I still consider her a woman."

Michael stared at Oliver. "You think she's a woman?"

"Yes, now leave."

Michael gave Oliver a strange look. "I have one last question. Is Callie my daughter or yours? I don't really care but I want to know."

"She's my daughter," Oliver said firmly. "I don't care whether she is my daughter by blood or not, I love that girl. She is my baby girl."

"Okay," Michael said. "Then I'll leave Callie and Ginny alone." Then he walked out the door.

Oliver picked Ginny's clothes up off the floor and went to Ginny. Trying to avert his eyes, he handed her the clothes. She dressed quickly and then fell sobbing into Oliver's arms. Oliver wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. He let her cling to him sobbing for a long time. He just rubbed her back and let her cry. Her arms were wrapped around his neck. He felt she was clinging to him for dear life. "Oliver," she said after a long time. "Oliver, do you really think of Callie as your daughter or do you just say that to make Michael leave me alone?"

Oliver pulled back away from her. "Gin, look me in the eye. I want to tell you something. Your brothers are my friends; you're my friend. I care deeply about you. I want to grow closer to you." He kissed her forehead. "Gin, I don't know you well enough to say whether or not I love you but I do know this. Your daughter needs a father; we're both going to be at Hogwarts next year. If nothing else, I'll be Callie's surrogate father and maybe more."

Ginny smiled. "You're amazing, really amazing. Oliver, what would I do without you?"

Then they kissed.

A/N: I hope you like it. Please review. And if you think they're going too fast let me know. NO FLAMES!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm glad you guys like this so much I still don't own Harry Potter. I wish I owned Oliver Wood though but J.K. Rowling owns him.

As they pulled apart after their kiss, Oliver looked at Ginny. "Are you all right?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. He kept slamming my head into the wall and hitting me. And he kept touching me and swearing at me. Every time I'm near him, I don't feel like I'm a person anymore. I feel like I'm just his toy that he can shove around and do what he wants with. Every time he calls me a whore, it makes me wonder if I am one."

Oliver gripped her shoulders firmly in his hands. "Ginny, listen to me. You are not a whore. What he did to you last year is called rape and it is illegal. You are a woman no matter what he says to you or does to you; you are a woman. Ginny, Michael is a creep. There are other guys out there like him but most guys do not treat women like that. I don't treat women like that; if I did, my mum and my sisters would slaughter me. Ginny, you don't deserve something like Michael. And that's what he is; he's a thing. He's a soulless creep."

Fred walked into the shop closely followed by George. They heard Oliver talking to Ginny. They immediately went behind the counter. "What happened?" George demanded. "Who did that to her?"

"Michael Corner came back," Ginny said. She was sitting leaning against the wall. "He tried to rape me again."

"Oh my god," George muttered. He joined his sister and Oliver on the floor. "Are you all right, Ginny?"

"Oliver stopped him before he actually did it," she said accenting the last word. "But he was touching me everywhere and groping me and oh, George it was terrible. His hands were everywhere and I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. He's so much stronger than me. I'm afraid of him."

Fred put his hand on his sister's shoulder next to Oliver's hand. "Ginny, I hate to say this, but I don't want you working here anymore. George and I can't always be here and I don't think Michael is going to leave you alone."

"But he told Oliver that if he knew that Callie was Oliver's daughter, he'd leave us alone," Ginny sobbed.

"Oliver," George said. "Did you tell him you were Callie's father?"

Oliver nodded. "I'm not sure he believes me though. I mean, my story of how I got Ginny pregnant seemed pretty credible, especially after talking to her just now, but I don't know if he bought it."

Fred and George nodded in unison. "Oliver, take her back to Hermione and Harry's. Stay there with her until we contact you. George, you go find Harry, Ron, and Charlie. I'll find Bill, Lee, and Dean. If we have time, we need to get Neville, Remus, and Seamus."

Oliver and Ginny Apparated back to the Potters' flat. Hermione shrieked when they just popped up in her living room. Then she gasped as she saw Ginny. "What happened to her? Oliver, why are her face and chest covered in bruises? What happened to her?"

Oliver picked up Ginny and carried her to the couch. "She was alone in the shop and Michael came in. He tried to take advantage of the situation."

"Oliver walked by and saw what he was doing and stopped him," Ginny said weakly, clinging desperately to Oliver's hand. "And then Fred and George came in just after Michael left. They sent me home and told me not to come back to work. They said Michael is just too much trouble."

Hermione nodded. "They're right. I don't want you without an adult around at any time. If Harry's not home at night, I'm going to make sure that either Ron or Oliver is here. If I need you to baby-sit, Oliver is going to help you. We're going to keep you safe at all costs."

"Including my social life?" Oliver teased.

"I thought she was your social life," Hermione teased back. "If you have Ginny, what would you need with a social life?"

Ginny just sat on the couch shaking during this exchange. Then she heard Callie crying. She stood up. "I'm going to her."

Hermione nodded and let her go to her room she shared with her baby.

Ginny picked her daughter up and held her in her arms. The baby kept crying. "Are you hungry, princess?" she asked the baby girl. Ginny sat down in her rocking chair and began to nurse Callie. "That's better, isn't it?" she whispered. The baby was sucking eagerly and hungrily.

In the living room, Hermione looked at Oliver. "It's almost five. If you want, you can just stay now."

He nodded. "All right. What's for dinner?"

Hermione smiled. "Always the hungry little boy, aren't you? We're having chicken and potatoes."

"And Professor McGonagall is coming?" Oliver asked.

"Professor Dumbledore is coming with her. You know how they are; during the summer they can't stand to be apart." She smiled. "My parents are also coming; they've been out of town for about four months and they just got back this morning; they invited themselves over for dinner as did Harry's aunt, uncle, and cousin."

"The Dursleys are coming?" Oliver said with a look of disgust pervading his face.

"I'm not pleased about it either, but yes they are. They said they want to visit us. Harry thinks they want something."

"I'm with him," Oliver said.

"So am I, to be perfectly honest," Hermione said. "I really don't want them to come but I couldn't think of an excuse that they wouldn't say 'oh that doesn't bother us' to. I told them there would be six wizards at dinner; that didn't faze them. I told them the meal would be cooked by magic; they didn't care. I told them people would be doing magic and discussing the magical world during dinner and they didn't care."

"They either want something really badly or are really desperate for your cooking."

Hermione laughed. "I haven't cooked a meal without the aid of magic since I left Hogwarts. Harry and the children would starve if I couldn't cook with the aid of magic. But when we first got married, I had to get Mrs. Weasley to teach me how to cook with magic."

Oliver smiled. "I remember some of your first meals you cooked."

"They were terrible," Ginny said coming into the room with Callie in her arms. "Some days, I hear Harry would do something to destroy the food and get the two of you invited to dinner at Fred's."

"Well, Katie is a good cook," Hermione said defensively. "And I wasn't. So finally, after we had dinner with one of the twins and his family every day for a week and a half, Katie, Alicia, and Mrs. Weasley gave me a crash course in magical cooking."

"And Harry's been satisfied with her cooking ever since," Ginny finished.

Sirius toddled into the room just then. "Owie! Owie!"

Oliver ran over to his godson and picked him up just before he fell over. "Hey, Sirius. How's my little man?"

Sirius just smiled and hugged his godfather. Ginny smiled. Oliver was a natural with little kids. Sirius was frantically chattering away. Ginny looked at Oliver. "What's he saying?"

Oliver shook his head. "It's all gibberish at this stage. Every now and then I catch a word I recognize but most of it is all goo-goo-ga-ga."

Ginny smiled. "He looks so much like Harry. James looks like his father too, but he's more his grandfather."

"James Albus Potter is the spitting image of James Michael Potter," Oliver said. "It's actually disturbing."

"I think Harry likes it though," Ginny said. "It gives him a connection to his father. It's not enough that he has the same Patronus as his father or he looks exactly like his father except for his eyes; he has to go and have a son who looks exactly like his father and even has his father's eyes."

Oliver smiled. "You know, both these boys will probably be great Seekers. Harry could have made a great Seeker professionally. But instead he joined the Ministry as an Auror."

"He's happier as an Auror than he would have been playing professional Quidditch though," Ginny said.

"Yeah, professional Quidditch really doesn't leave you much time for a wife and a family," Oliver agreed. "That's part of why I'm retiring. I want to settle down and have a family." He looked at the smirk on Ginny's face. "What? Can't you see me as a husband and father? Haven't your brothers been talking about trying to get you to marry me?"

Ginny sighed and then laughed. "Yes, my brothers have been trying to hook us up. But that's Fred and George for you. They want me to get married because they got married at nineteen and Harry got married at eighteen."

"Percy, Bill, and Charlie were in over twenty when they got married, so what are they worried about?"

"I don't know," she said "I'm only twenty-one; I still have. Bill and Charlie were in their late twenties when they got married. Percy was like twenty-three when he got married. I'm not worried about it. I'll find a husband."

Oliver looked at her. "So you don't need Fred and George to fix you up with me?"

Ginny grabbed the nearest pillow on the couch and put it over her face. Oliver put Sirius down and went over to Ginny. He pulled the pillow off her face and saw that her face was red as her hair. "I was just teasing you," he said. "Forget I ever asked you."

Ginny relaxed. Oliver sat down next to her. "So when's McGonagall coming over?"

There was a loud CRACK and then Professor McGonagall appeared. There was another CRACK and Professor Dumbledore appeared. "Ginny!" Professor McGonagall gasped. "What happened to your face?"

"Michael," she muttered, suddenly clinging to Oliver. Oliver wrapped his arm around her, sensing that she needed to feel protected. He was suddenly filled with a sense of how small and how frail she was. He felt tears soaking his shirt and reasoned they were coming from her eyes. This was not going to be an easy day for her to recover from. Professor McGonagall sat down on the other side of Ginny and handed Oliver a handkerchief. Oliver wiped her face as carefully as he could, frequently hitting himself in the chest though. Ginny clung to him even more tightly. Oliver gently removed Callie from her mother's arms and handed her to Professor Dumbledore.

Professor McGonagall looked at Ginny. "Ginny, I want to talk to you. Could you and Oliver come with me into your bedroom?"

Ginny nodded. She and Oliver stood up and went into her bedroom with Professor McGonagall. Ginny and Oliver sat down on her bed while McGonagall sat down in the rocker. "Ginny," the professor said gently. "Tell me about the night Michael raped you. I want you to go through the entire day or as much of it relates to that event."

Ginny nodded and clinging to Oliver for security began, "I went to work that morning like I always do. I was a little depressed because Colin and I had broken up the night before. Michael saw that I was upset and offered to take me out to a Muggle pub after work. He said it would cheer me up. I didn't know what he really was at the time, so I agreed to go out with him. When we got to the pub, he ordered a round of a Muggle beer or whiskey; it was like Firewhiskey, you know very strong. After that first one, I was already a little tipsy but Michael kept ordering me more and I kept getting more and more smashed. I realized after about six beers that Michael hadn't been drinking anything at all but rather giving me his drinks. I told him I'd had enough I wanted to go home. He took me to his flat and threw me on his bed. Then he ripped off my clothes and threw them on the floor somewhere. Then he took off his own clothes and jumped on top of me." Ginny began sobbing but went on. "Then he beat me for a long time and then he-he," she gripped Oliver's shoulder tighter and began sobbing forcefully and uncontrollably.

Oliver rubbed her back. "It's all right, sweetie. I've got you. You're safe. He can't hurt you here."

"Ginny," McGonagall said. "If you don't want to go on, you don't have to. I can guess what happened after this."

Ginny shook her head. "I'll go on. I need to say this. Then he forced himself in me and raped me. I remember crying and crying because it hurt so much and I hated him so much. He kept swearing at me and telling me to shut up. He told me I deserved to be treated like that after getting drunk like that. Finally, he threw me on the floor and said I was boring him. I fell asleep there, I guess. But I woke up before he did and got dressed. Then I Apparated to my parents' house. I found out I was pregnant about three or four weeks later and quit my job at the Ministry. And Fred and George gave me a job at 3W."

Oliver was filled with rage at Michael for treating Ginny like this. He had treated her like she was less than human. He held her in his arms and let her cry for a long time. Finally, her tears ran dry and she just clung to him. Professor McGonagall looked at her. "Ginny, you know that Oliver's last serious relationship was with Katie Bell but do you know why they broke it off? And it wasn't really the reason that they told everyone."

Ginny shook her head. Oliver looked at her. "Gin, Katie is my cousin. Katie found out shortly before we broke up but she didn't tell me. Our relationship was falling apart so I figured that was why we were splitting but shortly after I joined the Order of the Phoenix, I found out that Katie, Alicia, and Harry are all my cousins on my mum's side of the family. I also found out that Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are my mum's parents."

"We raised our children under false last names," Professor McGonagall explained. "The girls were raised under the last name McKinnon and James under the last name 'Potter'. Katie is my daughter Margaret's daughter, Alicia is my daughter Emma's daughter, Oliver is my daughter Julie's son, and Harry is my son James's son. So, technically, the Quidditch team that Oliver captained his fifth through seventh years is now all related. Katie, Alicia, Oliver, and Harry are cousins, Fred and George are twins, and Angelina is married to the twins' brother. And Gred and Forge are married to Katie and Alicia, making them related to Oliver and Harry."

Ginny smiled faintly. "So, you're both Lily and James's great-grandmother and their godmother."

She nodded. "Harry thought that it would be fitting seeing as I didn't get to help raise him, I could help raise his children."

Ginny nodded. "It's weird think of you being Harry's grandmother."

"Ginny," Oliver said. "What color is Grandmum's hair? What color is my hair? What color is Katie's hair? What color is Alicia's hair? What color is Harry's hair? We all have the same shade of black hair."

Ginny shrugged. "I guess I do see some resemblance. When did Harry and Alicia find out?

"Alicia found out after her seventh year and Harry found out in the middle of his sixth year," Professor McGonagall said.

Hermione stuck her head in the room. "Are you three done in here? I hate to pester you but the Dursleys are here and I need help with them."

"We're out there now," Ginny said. "Talking to Oliver and Professor helped. They really helped."

Hermione smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. Now come save me! Professor Dumbledore took Sirius and Callie into the twins' room to play with them there. And now I have Petunia Dursley inspecting my kitchen like she's looking for some sign that I'm not perfect. I need help!"

Oliver, Ginny, and Professor McGonagall hurried into the living room. Vernon and Dudley Dursley were sitting on the couch. Dudley hadn't lost any weight since Harry's Hogwarts years and took up most of the couch. Petunia was snooping around the kitchen like she was looking for something. Vernon looked at Oliver. "Who are you and what do you do? What kind of car do you drive?"

Oliver looked at him as he sat down in a large chair that held two people. Ginny sat down in his lap. Oliver spoke slowly. "I'm Oliver Wood; I'm an old friend of Harry and Hermione from their school days. I just retired from playing professional Quidditch and this fall I'll start teaching Arithmancy at Hogwarts. And I don't own a car." Oliver knew perfectly well that Vernon Dursley barely understood anything he said.

Vernon looked at Ginny. "Who are you? What do you do? And what kind of car do you drive?"

She snuggled up against Oliver. "I'm Ginny Weasley. My older brother, Ron, is Harry's best friend. In the fall, I'll start teaching charms at Hogwarts and I don't own a car."

"You don't own a car?" Dudley said. "How can you not own a car?"

"I don't know," Oliver said, stroking Ginny's cheek. "I've just never need one. Grandmum, how have you lived without a car your entire life?"

Petunia Dursley looked at him. "She's your Grandmum?"

"And Harry's," Oliver said with a smile. "Petunia Dursley, I'd like you to meet Minerva McGonagall-Dumbledore, the mother of James Potter."

Before the Dursleys could say anything, Professor Dumbledore came in. "And I'm James Potter's father, Albus Dumbledore. That is my grandson, Oliver Wood." Harry Apparated into the room. "And that is my one of my other grandsons, Harry Potter."

Petunia looked at Harry. "These people are your grandparents?" she asked in a strangled sort of voice.

"Grandfather is the headmaster of Hogwarts and Grandmum is the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts," Harry said. "Do you have a problem with my relatives?"

Petunia gasped. "Whose child is that?" she was pointing to Callie who was in Albus's arms.

"Oh," Ginny said. "That's my daughter." She stood up and took her daughter from Professor Dumbledore and sat back down in Oliver's lap.

"Oh, so you're Harry's cousin's wife?" Petunia asked.

"Yes she is," Harry said. "They got married last spring and they had Callie at the end of March."

Oliver looked at Harry who shot him a look that said, "Just play along." Oliver nodded. "The past sixteen months have been the best sixteen months of my life," he said, kissing Ginny's cheek.

Ginny smiled. "Oh, Oliver, not in front of everyone! You know I love you but please, keep that for when we're alone."

Harry sighed. "They're such newlyweds."

Hermione nodded. "They're so cute." Someone knocked on the door. "That must be my mum and dad."

It was. Once Mr. and Mrs. Granger were inside, Hermione called everyone into the dining room for dinner. Harry left the room for a minute and came back with Lily, James, and Sirius. Dinner was a calm affair. The Dursleys mostly kept to themselves, not quite sure of how to behave in the presence of six wizards.

After dinner, however, Harry looked at his aunt and uncle. "All right, why are you here? I know you didn't come over just for the company so what do you want?"

Petunia looked at him. "Look, we've heard about what you did in your seventh year at that school of yours. And we've found out that the person you killed was going to kill people like us probably us even. And we wanted to say that we're sorry for the way we treated you when you were younger."

"Really?" Harry said coldly. "You're sorry for making me live in a closet for ten years? You're sorry for making me wear clothes that were over five times too big for me? You're sorry for lying to me about who my parents were? Are you really sorry or do you just want me to forgive you so you can feel better?'

Petunia Dursley just stared at him. Vernon said, "How dare you speak to us after all we did for you? We fed you, we clothed you, we took care of you; we were a better family to you than your own grandparents and cousin were."

Oliver shifted Ginny off his lap. He stood up and walked over to Vernon Dursley. "Never speak of my grandfather like that! Albus Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of all time. He is also the greatest grandfather ever! The only reason he left Harry with you was that Voldemort was more likely to find Harry if he was in the wizarding world. It was too dangerous for Harry to be with my family or my grandparents or my aunts' families. You are the ungrateful wretch, not Harry! You have no idea of what Voldemort would have done to you if he hadn't been killed, so just shut the heck up."

The Dursleys left after Oliver's little blow-up. Oliver looked at Harry. "Why did you tell them that Ginny and I are married?"

"Petunia would have had a field day with Ginny if she found out that Ginny was an unwed mother. It was easier to just say that you were Ginny's husband and Callie's father than to explain everything," Harry explained calmly.

Oliver looked at Ginny. "It seems, my dear, that the entire world has set out with one goal-to get you and me married. What do you say we do about it?"

"I say," Ginny said calmly. "I think we should just take this slowly and see where is takes us. If we end up married, everyone will be exceedingly happy."

Oliver smiled and kissed her cheek while Harry and Hermione exchanged mischievous looks.

A/N: Well, I hope you like it. Please no flames! And well, I hope no one hates me too much for having Oliver date his cousin for two years but you know, they didn't know they were cousins and she broke up w/ him the minute she knew he was her cousin. Don't shoot me!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers, especially TardyChick06, who has faithfully reviewed every chapter with nothing but kind comments. She's awesome. Well, as previously mentioned, I don't own Harry Potter, just the plot of this story.

A month later, everyone was gathered at the Burrow for a farewell dinner before Oliver and Ginny left for Hogwarts. The pair had been dating for the past month and to quote Harry, "Callie loves Oliver as much as she loves her own mother." It was true too. Callie would cling to Oliver whenever he came over. "When Callie starts talking," Fred said watching Oliver with his niece one day. "She's going to call Ollie daddy." Things were certainly headed in that direction.

The only problem was that Michael Corner had gone to all the wizarding tabloids and told them that the famous Oliver Wood, keeper for Puddlemore United, had fathered a child with Ginny Weasley. Now whenever Oliver went out in public, people hounded him asking him if the rumors were true. When he went out in public with Ginny, people followed them around taking their pictures. And people's favorite thing was when Oliver and Ginny went out in public with Callie. People with cameras, especially reporters, followed them around. After one day of being followed all over Diagon Alley, Oliver said to Ginny, "I wish we could move to the States where no one knows about this."

"Hon," Ginny said. "I think they know about this over there too. I don't think there's any way we can get out of this."

Oliver sighed. "I just want to spend some time getting to know you without people following us around with cameras."

"Now I know how Harry felt his second year when Colin Creevey followed him around with a camera constantly," Ginny said, kissing her baby. "I just wish that there was a way to keep Callie out of this. She doesn't deserve this."

Oliver kissed the baby's forehead and smiled to see her smile. "She's such a sweet baby. I love her so much and this is so unfair to her. Why did this whole mess have to get started? Couldn't Michael just leave us alone after I told him Callie was my daughter? Why did he have to go to the papers with it?"

Ginny sighed. "Because he's a creep and he can't stand to just things go. He wants to hurt me for some sick reason."

"He's a soulless creep as I keep telling you," Oliver said. Then he kissed Ginny.

Fred and George spent most of the party demonstrating the products they were launching later in their Hogsmeade shop in October at the same time as the first Hogwarts Hogsmeade weekend. They had new fireworks that doubled as dungbombs but when used as dungbombs didn't have any firework effects or if used as fireworks had no dungbomb effects. "They're the perfect mischief makers," Fred said.

Oliver shook his head. "I wonder how many of those will go off in my classes. Those things really could become my worst nightmare."

Fred sighed. "Drat! I was hoping that the Weasley brothers were your worst nightmare."

"I thought you wanted me to marry your sister," Oliver countered.

"Oh, I do," said a smiling Fred. "But you're still supposed to be scared witless of us. After all, we are Ginny's fierce defenders. If her honor is defiled in any way or she is embarrassed or humiliated in any way, shape, or form, we will immediately come to her aid with wands at the ready."

"Yes, sir," Oliver said. "Fred, I respect your sister far too much to defile her honor in any way, shape, or form and I'd hate to humiliate her at all, for any reason."

Fred looked Oliver over from head to toe. "You look like an honest man. I think I'll trust you."

"You look like a crazy man to me," Oliver said, looking Fred over from head to toe. "I think I'll pretend I don't know you."

Fred stuck his tongue out at Oliver. "Maybe I'll put a sign on the Dung-Works that says 'Please use these most frequently in Professor Wood's classes.'"

"Maybe I'll use them in your shop," Oliver countered. "I'd use them in your house, but I love my cousin very much and I don't want to hurt her nose."

Katie smiled. "Thanks, Oliver. But I should remind you; my nose suffers enough when he works with all his dungbomb creations."

"You poor dear," Bill said. "Why did you marry this chap in the first place?"

"I don't know," Katie said. "I love him, but I'm not sure why. Fred, why do I love you?"

"Because underneath this terrible odor is a heart of gold," Fred said. "And besides I am the most amazing man you've ever met in your life."

Alicia said, "Well, it seems to me that it's your twin brother who is the most amazing man I've ever met in my life. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't married to George. I mean, sure, you're both crazy, but that's half your charm."

George said, "So you love me because I'm a crazy eccentric?"

Alicia kissed him. Then she said, "It took you five years of marriage to figure that out? George Stephen Weasley, you sure are slow on the uptake. But I still love you. Maybe I even love you more because of that."

Bill looked at Angelina suspiciously. "Why exactly do you love me?"

Angelina shrugged. "You play Quidditch, you're handsome, you're funny, you're a decent guy, and you're not part of Gred and Forge."

Bill smiled. "I guess that's a good reason."

Charlie looked at Maya. "Why do you love me?"

She smiled. "Well, it's not because you're tall, dark, and handsome. Probably it's because you can handle dragons. It's not every day that you meet a guy who can control dragons. I like that in a guy. You're not afraid of anything."

Charlie smiled and kissed his wife. "You're an amazing woman."

"Well, you're pretty amazing yourself," she replied.

Ron looked at Luna. "Are we on speaking terms?"

She smiled and shrugged. Then she kissed him. Fred said, "They're not on speaking terms but they are on kissing terms. How many people do you know who have relationships like that?"

His twin replied, "The only other people I know who are like that are Penny and Percy." He pointed to the couple that was making out sitting under a tree.

"Break it up, kids!" Charlie yelled. "We all know you two love each other, but there are small children around and they all seem to have eyes. They're very impressionable."

Percy and Penny didn't have any children yet, despite having been married for nearly six years. They had gotten married just before the start of Harry, Hermione, and Ron's sixth year. Meanwhile, Fred and George had both been married for five years and Fred had three children and George had two sets of twins. Bill and Angelina had been married for five years and they had three children. Charlie and Maya had been married for six years and they had four children. Mrs. Weasley was constantly reminding Percy that she wasn't getting any younger and while she had fifteen grandchildren, none of them were his children. She was after Ron to get married but with each passing week it looked less and less like Ron and Luna were going to get married. They were fighting more and more and Fred said, "The only real purpose for that relationship is for them to make-out and for Luna to get more camera time by being with the famous Ron Weasley who helped defeat Lord Voldemort."

Percy looked at his brothers. "I am allowed to kiss my wife when and where I please. Stop worrying about what your children see. It's not that big of a deal when two adults who love each other and are married are kissing each other."

Charlie sighed. "It is a problem for me when my five-year-old can see you two kissing. It may be perfectly natural but it opens up questions that I don't think my son is old enough to be asking. I don't mind it if you kiss Penny but please don't do it in public where I have to explain why Uncle Percy was sticking his hands down Aunt Penny's shirt."

Oliver moaned. "Charlie, please shut up. That was more information about Percy and Penny's relationship than I really ever wanted to know."

Ginny nodded. "I'm his sister and I didn't need that little tad of information. Charlie, the next time you see Percy doing something like that KEEP IT TO YOURSELF! I really do not need those mental images." She gripped her head and began shaking it. "Get that crap out of my head now!"

(A/N: I had this driver's ed teacher who was like sixty and he would get up in front of our class and do that. It was really funny. Actually, he's only like 56 but whatever… Yeah, he was weird. I would sit in class and wonder what drugs he was on. But his son was hot. Yeah, you guys are so not interested in my random ramblings, so I'll shut up now and get back to the story. But if you are interested in my random ramblings, you can email me and I will randomly ramble for you. Like my new current favorite topic are my friends' fingers.)

Oliver smiled. "Maybe Percy and Penny just go someplace else where their antics can't bother anyone."

"An excellent idea," Charlie agreed. (For those of you haven't picked up on this yet, Charlie now lives in England to be closer to his family and further from his in-laws.) "Percy, Penny, go home. Give Mum the grandchildren she wants."

Penny said, "But I don't want to have children. They're dirty and they take up your time. Besides, your mum already has fifteen grandchildren and I'm sure the rest of you wouldn't mind having more children. You're Weasleys; reproduction is your specialty. I mean George and Alicia have two sets of twins. You guys just sit around kicking out babies. Look at Ginny; she's not even married and she's already got a kid. You people just sit around having babies; you don't need Percy and me to have any kids to make this family any bigger."

Unwittingly, Penny had gone too far. All of her in-laws were looking daggers at her. Oliver was glaring at her with a look that, well, if looks could kill, Penny would have been dead the instant Oliver's eyes hit her. Even Percy was glaring at her. Penny was suddenly very frightened. "Look, I'm sorry."

"It's too late for sorry," said George glaring at her. "You insulted our family. No one insults the Weasleys and gets away with it."

Penny looked around at all the other faces in the backyard. Percy's eyes were filled with hurt and anger. Bill was looking daggers at her. Charlie looked like he'd like to sic a dragon on her. George and Fred were in murderous rages at her. Ron looked like he had been taken over by some evil spirit with all the anger in his eyes and face. His facial muscles were twitching like mad. Ginny, well, Ginny's face was a combination of everyone else's face but she was clinging to Oliver, as if to keep her from attacking Penny. Oliver had his arm wrapped defensively around his girlfriend's shoulders and well, his facial expressions have already been described. If looks could kill, Penny Clearwater-Weasley would be deader than dead. Harry and Hermione were giving off auras of pure and unadulterated wrath. Katie, Alicia, and Angelina were just disgusted with her. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley just looked so hurt.

For what seemed like an eternity, everyone just stood there staring at her. Then, Penny heard the clear voice of Bill Weasley. "Look, your husband already caused my mother enough pain when he abandoned the family seven years ago. We don't need you two to cause her any more pain. Just leave now before we do something to you that we will not regret."

Penny looked around again. Everyone seemed to be agreeing with Bill. She looked at Charlie desperately. He shook his head. "Leave, and take your husband with you. Just go away."

She turned to Oliver. They had been friends at Hogwarts. Surely he couldn't be siding with the Weasleys. "Oliver, we're friends. Come on. Back me up."

He spoke harshly and coldly, like ice. "Ginny and her daughter are not a joke." His words were precise and angry. "Just stop while you can. Just leave us alone. You and Percy have hurt this family enough."

"You're not a Weasley!"

"No, but I'm dating one and I have cousins who are married to Weasleys," Oliver said. "I'm not related to you in any way, shape, or form. Clearwater," he barked. "Blood is thicker than water. Now, leave the Weasleys alone."

Penny picked up her purse sadly and Apparated out of the Weasleys' yard. Percy looked at his family. "I'm going with her. I'm sorry about what she did but she's my wife and I need to go to her."

"More power to you," Harry said blankly. "Have fun with that choice."

Percy disapparated and immediately the tension released. Ginny moaned, "Why does everyone have to torture me about Callie? Can't people just accept that she's my daughter and eventually I'll get married? When I get married, she'll have a father."

"Oliver," Fred teased. "Are you taking notes?"

Oliver laughed. "Well, if you'd get me some paper and a pencil, I would." He kissed Ginny's head.

Fred smiled. "I think he's won her heart." He pointed to Oliver who was holding Callie on his left hip and had his right arm wrapped around Ginny.

George nodded. "She's off the deep end for him."

"He's a good guy," Fred replied.

"He can marry her."

"They've only been dating for a month," Charlie pointed out.

"Okay, so he can ask her to marry him in about a year and then get married the next summer," George said as if it was the most rational thing in the world to say.

His mother looked at him. "George, stop planning your sister's life out for her. She's old enough that she can plan her own life."

"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother! I'm Fred," George insisted. "We're twenty-four and you still can't tell us apart. Woman, you are pathetic."

"All right, Fred," Mrs. Weasley said, still unsure as to whether this really was Fred or not. "I'm very sorry, Fred dear."

George grinned then. "I'm just teasing you. I really am George."

Mrs. Weasley moaned. "You two are going to be the death of me. All I have to say is George you got your just desserts when you got two pairs of identical twins."

"She's right, you know," Alicia said. They had twin three-year-old boys, Nicholas and John, and twin fifteen-month-old girls, Elizabeth and Rebecca. "Nick and John are already taking after you. They're only three years old and already they're in mischief half the day."

"It's all my fault," George said. "They're my children, so it's my fault. Alicia, if you'd married another man, you'd have perfect children but you married me so you have imperfect children."

Alicia laughed. "Oh don't give me that melodramatic crap. It's not your fault. I'm just as responsible as you are."

"Yeah, to be married to George, one must be at least half as crazy as he is," Oliver teased. "And it's the same for marrying Fred; you have to be crazy to do it."

Katie and Alicia shot their cousin a glare, but then they both burst out laughing. "No, Oliver," Alicia said. "To be a Dumbledore, you have to be crazy. Harry, isn't that true?"

Harry looked at his wife. "Hermione, am I crazy?"

Hermione shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, you work as an Auror, you're married to me, and you have three children with me. Plus, you're really good friends with the Weasleys. Yeah, you're crazy. In fact, all the Dumbledore grandchildren are crazy. Oliver's loony, Alicia's goony, Katie's psycho, and Harry's insane."

"It sounds like they get crazier as they get younger," Fred said.

"Well, in your family it's the middle children who are the craziest!" Oliver teased. "Percy, Fred, and George are all wacko, but Bill, Charlie, Ron, and Ginny are pretty much normal."

Ginny smiled. "So are crazy people attracted to normal people?"

Oliver shrugged. "Look at Harry and Hermione; he's crazy and she's normal. It seems like it works like that."

Ginny kissed Oliver's cheek. "You're an amazing guy for someone who is crazy."

Oliver kissed Ginny's cheek. "You're an amazing woman for someone who is sane."

A/N: Well, I hope you like it. Please review but no flames, por favor.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I really appreciate it. You guys are awesome! I don't own HP but I'll live. And Tardychick06, you're the best! Your reviews and advice are always good, welcome, and appreciated! And you're welcome! (By the way, I am addicted to reviews. And if you review my stuff, I'll try to read and review your stuff.)

On August 20, the Weasleys all went over to the Potters' flat to say good-bye to Ginny, Callie, and Oliver before they left for Hogwarts. Percy and Penny didn't come. Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Ron hauled Oliver into the kitchen. "All right, listen to us. Treat Ginny well. Be good to her and make sure that she's fine. Take good care of her and no one gets hurt. It's very simple, Wood," Bill said.

Fred cracked his knuckles and Charlie punched his left hand with his right fist. George had a sneer on his face and Ron was giving Oliver the evil eye. "All right," Oliver said. "I get it. I'll be good to her. You don't have to worry about her. And cut the mafia act, guys. I'm not going to try anything with your sister."

"Good," George said. "If you do, we're going to come after you and well that isn't going to be fun for anyone."

Charlie raised his eyebrows. "And we wouldn't want to hurt your pretty little face."

Ginny walked in. "Okay, boys, cut the tough guy act. You all know Oliver and it's a well-known fact that he's very respectful of women. Besides, I'll be at Hogwarts. Do you think he'd try anything there under Albus Dumbledore's nose?"

"It's a very crooked nose," George said.

"He's probably taken at least two bludgers to that nose," Fred added. "It's really a shame. It was probably quite the good-looking nose when he was younger."

Ginny sighed. "All right, well, Oliver and I will be leaving now. I'll see you at Christmas holidays."

Fred began to blubber. "Don't leave us, Ginny. You can't go now!"

As his twin began to cling to her, George kissed both of Ginny's cheeks. "I'll miss you every night. I'll soak my pillow with my tears to the point of mildew."

Ginny patted her brothers on the head and sighed. "I'll write you both letters if you'll be good boys and let go of me."

Oliver said, "Oh and Dumbledore has taken four bludgers to the nose."

Instantly, the twins were off Ginny. She hugged her other brothers and her parents. Then holding her trunk with one arm and Callie with the other, she stepped in to the fireplace and yelled, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

As soon as Ginny had vanished, Oliver took his trunk and stepped in to the fire and called out "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

A minute later, they both came out of the fireplace in Professor Dumbledore's office. He looked them over. "Well, if it isn't Professor Weasley and Professor Wood? Would you like me to ask Mr. Filch to help you take your things to rooms?"

Ginny stood up with Callie in her arms. "That would be great."

Oliver nodded. "I'd appreciate it."

"Oh, in an interesting turn of events," Professor Dumbledore said. "You two have classrooms right next to each other. True, Charms and Arithmancy have always been next to each other but with you two, this is in some ways a blessing. And Oliver, many of our female students believe everything that _Witch Weekly_ says. Ginny, you also would do well to remember that."

Mr. Filch walked in a minute later and took Ginny and Oliver down to their classrooms. The charms classroom now had a sign over the door that read, "Charms, Professor Virginia Weasley." Ginny remembered when the sign had read, "Charms, Professor Filius Flitwick."  The sign over the door to the Arithmancy classroom read, "Arithmancy, Professor Oliver Wood." Oliver smiled. "I remember when that said Professor Larissa Vector. I feel so weird replacing Professor Vector. I mean, my mum remembers having her as a teacher."

Ginny smiled. "Hey, my grandparents had Flitwick."

"Mine didn't," Oliver replied. "But I had Grandmum as a teacher."

Filch unlocked the doors of their classrooms. "Here you are, professors," he grumbled. "I remember when you two were students and look at ye now. You're professors, strange things this school is coming to. Oh, and yer keys are yer desks."

Ginny smiled at him. "Thank you, Mr. Filch."

"You're welcome, Professor," he mumbled.

Mr. Filch had only carried Ginny's trunk into her classroom. She went into her classroom and looked around. It seemed so empty without Flitwick standing at his podium going on in his squeaky voice, sounding so excited even about the most dreary of charms. It was so strange how such a small man could seem so large. His persona was captivating. Ginny hoped that her students would like her half as much as they'd liked Flitwick.

Oliver walked in. "It seems empty with out Flitwick."

"I was just thinking that," Ginny replied. "I remember spending hours in here, just mesmerized by him. You know, I think he was the only teacher here who never gave Harry a detention. Well, then, Trelawney and Hagrid probably didn't either but pretty much everyone else must have. And those who didn't give him one were filled up by all of Snape's detentions."

"It's hard to believe Snape's dead," Oliver said.

Ginny nodded. "I remember when he died Harry just looked at me and said, 'I thought he was immortal or something.' It was just completely out of the blue. But thankfully, he didn't die at the hands of Voldemort." Snape had been found dead in the middle of nowhere about two months after Voldemort's death. No suspects had ever been named but most people believed it was the work of some Death Eaters.

Oliver looked at her trunk sitting on the floor. "Would you like me to put that in your office for you?"

She nodded and rubbed Callie's back. Oliver looked at her and knew that the past month had been hard for her. Having Michael Corner tell everyone who would listen that Oliver Wood was the father of your child had to be difficult especially when Oliver Wood wasn't the father of your child. He knew that Ginny hadn't wanted to have kids before she got married so this whole situation had to be all the more difficult on her. How she handled raising Callie by herself, he would never understand. She was so strong.

She unlocked the door to the office and Oliver followed her inside. Inside the office there was another door, which Ginny also unlocked. These were her new quarters. Inside were a bedroom and a small sitting room with a couch and a rocking chair. The bedroom had a big, soft bed and a crib. Ginny smiled as Oliver said "Grandmum must have gotten it ready for you."

"How can you tell?" Ginny asked.

He pointed to the cradle. Inside was a red tartan blanket. "That was the blanket that she used when she was nursing her babies. I remember hearing my mum talk about it. You know James was the baby of the family. Mum is like six years older than him and she tells stories of Grandmum sitting in a rocking chair with James wrapped in a red tartan blanket and nursing. When Uncle James died, Mum was heartbroken."

"Had you ever met him?"

Oliver nodded. "He would come visit us whenever he could. He and Aunt Lily would bring Harry with them for Sunday brunch once a month. Harry was the cutest baby you ever saw in your life. The last time I saw him he was just learning to walk and talk. Sirius reminds me of him so much. You know how Sirius calls me Owie?"

Ginny nodded as she sat down on the bed.

"The Sunday before Uncle James and Aunt Lily died they came over for brunch. Just before they left, Harry said to me, 'Bye-bye, Owie.' I didn't see him again for ten years. And I never saw my aunt and uncle again."

Ginny looked at him sympathetically. "That's why you joined the order then?"

Oliver nodded. "I wanted Voldemort to pay for what he did to my family. It hurt so badly watching Mum after that happened."

"How old were you?"

"I was five. I didn't really understand but I understood enough to know that Uncle James was gone and he was never coming back. And I didn't see Harry for ten years because Grandfather thought he would be safer with his Muggle relatives. I still don't understand that one completely. I still think that in some ways Harry would have been safer with my family or Katie's family or Alicia's family."

Oliver sat down next to Ginny who, with her free hand, ran her fingers through his hair. "But Harry lived. I mean, being with the Dursleys was terrible for him but it made him a stronger person. Oliver, you have to get past all of that. It's in the past and you need to look to the future."

Oliver nodded. Then he was looking at Callie. She had brown eyes. He'd always thought she had green eyes. Ginny had green eyes and Michael had blue eyes. It stood to reason that Callie would have either blue eyes or green eyes but not brown eyes. Oliver looked at the baby's eyes again. She gurgled and blew a raspberry at him and he laughed. Then he looked at Ginny. "Where did she get brown eyes from? You're a Weasley and you have the Weasley green eyes. Michael has blue eyes. Where did she get brown eyes from?"

Ginny's face was immediately as red as her hair and it seemed like there were tears in her eyes. Oliver felt awful for asking her and was about to apologize when Ginny said, "I don't know. I've never known why her eyes were brown. I guess it was just God's gift to me making her look nothing at all like Michael. But that's why Fred said she has your eyes. She really does look like she has your eyes. But they're not really your eyes. It's just the color of her yes. I don't know why they're brown; they just are."

Oliver nodded sensing that she really didn't want to talk about it. "Well, I should go get settled in my rooms."

Ginny hugged him. "I'll see you at the staff meeting at four."

He kissed her cheek. "Okay, I'll see you then."

Hogwarts opened on September 1. At five o'clock all the teachers except for Hagrid and Professor McGonagall had to report to the Great Hall. Hagrid, of course, had to meet the students in Hogsmeade and McGonagall had to meet the first years before they came into the Great Hall to be sorted in to Houses.

Madam Pomfrey was watching Callie during dinner for which Ginny was grateful. As she put on her Hogwarts robes, she thought about the seven years she'd spent in this castle as a student. She'd been a Gryfinndor, a prefect, a Quidditch player, and in her seventh year, Head Girl. Now she was a teacher. She was only four years older than some of the students. She just hoped that they would respect her. She was glad that her first class, eight o'clock on Mondays, was first years. And it was Gryfinndors. They would be easier than Slytherins as her first class. Slytherin was significantly smaller than it had been before Voldemort's death.

Ginny put her long red hair up in a bun and headed for the Great Hall. She found her seat at the Head Table between Professor Sprout and Oliver. Oliver squeezed her hand. Then the students came into the Hall and began filling up the chairs at the tables. Finally, Professor McGonagall led the first years into the room. Ginny could see that many of them were shaking in their boots, or shoes rather. She smiled. She remembered being absolutely terrified of the sorting her first year. But then she'd been thrilled to join her brothers in Gryfinndor.

The first student was a small redheaded girl named Marissa Adams. Marissa was sorted into Ravenclaw. Ginny sat patiently through the sorting of over sixty students only seven of whom went into Slytherin. Twenty-one students went to Gryfinndor and Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw each got sixteen new students. When the last student, Katie Zimmerhoff was sorted into Gryfinndor, Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome, my dear students to another year at Hogwarts! All the school's rules can be found next to the door to Mr. Filch's office. I would like to welcome two new teachers to our staff. As many of you know, Professor Filch retired from our staff at the end of last year. Professor Virginia Weasley has replaced him. Professor Vector also retired over the summer and Professor Oliver Wood has replaced her. I hope you will join me in welcoming these two new staff members back to Hogwarts."

The Great Hall burst out in cheers. Ginny reasoned that many of the students were fans of Oliver's and were glad to have him as a teacher.

The next morning, Ginny walked into her classroom to find it full of nervous first years. She walked to the podium and sat down behind it. She picked up the roll sheet and began to take roll. Everyone was speaking very quietly as if they were all scared of her. After she took roll they all just sat there staring at her. Finally one blonde haired girl raised her hand. Ginny nodded. "Yes, Miss?"

"I'm Maria Wood," the girl said. "Is Oliver Wood really your daughter's father?"

"Miss Wood," Ginny asked. "Are you Professor Wood's younger sister?" The girl was about fifteen years younger than Oliver but he had six younger sisters so it was possible.

The short, slender blonde nodded. "Yes, Professor Wood is my brother."

"Then I'd like to speak to you after class about believing everything you read in the tabloids. As I'm sure your brother can tell you, they like to make things up about famous people. And Oliver is famous."

"So are you," blurted out a short, pudgy boy with sandy blonde hair. "You were one of Harry Potter's best friends when he was at Hogwarts and you helped defeat Lord Voldemort."

"So did Professor Wood, five of my six brothers, my parents, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, Remus Lupin and many other unsung heroes."

"But there's an entire chapter on you in the Defense Against the Dark Arts book," cried out a tall, slender black girl sitting near Maria Wood. "It's over sixty pages long. The only people who have more pages are Harry Potter, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Wood, and the Gryfinndor Chasers."

"Miss Thomas," Ginny said instantly recognizing the girl as Jessie Thomas, Dean Thomas's younger sister. "That chapter is about my entire family, not just me."

"Don't be so modest," Maria Wood said. "There's a fair twelve pages on you."

"And getting back to Charms," Ginny said. "Open your books to page twelve."

After class, Ginny went into the Great Hall for lunch. She sat down next to Oliver. "You never told me your younger sister would be in my class."

"You'll have four of them," he said. "Maria is eleven, Beatrice is twelve, Juliet is fourteen, and Helena is sixteen. They're all in Gryfinndor. I only have Helena; Juliet's never been much of a math person."

"What about your other sisters?" Ginny asked, taking bite of the chicken on her plate.

"Ophelia is eighteen; she graduated last year and she works at Madame Malkin's now. And don't ask why my sister is named Ophelia. Viola will be coming here in two years. She's only nine. My mum is obsessed with the Muggle playwright, Shakespeare. When I was born, she wanted me to be a girl so she could name me Olivia. But when I was a boy, she settled for Oliver."

Ginny smiled. "How was Callie this morning?" Oliver didn't have a class on Monday mornings, so he'd offered to baby-sit Callie.

"She was a perfect angel. She woke up about two hours ago and after I gave her breakfast, she just wanted to play."

"How many classes do you have all week?"

"Five, one Monday afternoon, one Tuesday morning, one Wednesday morning, one Thursday afternoon and one Friday morning. Only one class per year, it's great. I can watch Callie when I'm free, if you like."

"That'd be great. The only times I'm free are Tuesday afternoons from one to five and Friday mornings from eight to noon. I have sixteen classes. Everyone is double-Charms except the first years."

"Well, look at the bright side, on Friday mornings, you don't have to get up until noon," Oliver pointed out.

"Yes but every other morning of the week I have to be up with the birds."

"And two mornings a week you don't have to worry about Callie because I'll take care of her those days."

Ginny smiled. "You're the best. Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey said they'll watch her whenever you can't."

"People love your daughter, Ginny. That little girl is simply irresistible."

Ginny squeezed his hand. "So are you."

Over the next month or so, Ginny's popularity among the students grew. She was, to quote Maria Wood, "The nicest teacher in the school. She never gives out detentions." And she didn't unless it was absolutely necessary. She made her classes fun. If it had been a boring class, she'd put a Cheering Charm on the class at the end of the class. She was a big hit with all the students, especially the Gryfinndor Quidditch team. They loved her for three reasons. First off, she didn't give them homework the week before a match. Secondly, she had played Quidditch at Hogwarts as her siblings. And she was the sister of Charlie Weasley, the second greatest Seeker in Hogwarts history. The greatest, according to Chaser and team captain, Mariana Morris, was Harry Potter. Mariana was a seventh-year who was constantly spending her lunchtime either talking to Ginny or Oliver about their Quidditch playing days. She wanted Oliver's advice on her practicing regimen until one day Professor McGonagall overheard her begging him, "Professor Wood, just tell me how you got your teams to be so amazing! How did you get your team in to perfect condition to win the Cup?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Mariana. "Miss Morris, I do not think you really want your team on Professor Wood's practicing regimen. It was rather brutal. The next time you're in Hogsmeade, go to Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes and ask either Fred or George about Professor Wood's absolutely absurd way of practicing and you won't want your team on his regimen. Trust me, I saw it's effects on my students."

Mariana looked at Professor McGonagall. "I'm going to ask the Weasleys because I don't believe you."

After Mariana walked away, Oliver looked at Professor McGonagall. "Grandmum, what was so insane and absurd about how I ran my practices?'

"It wasn't how you ran them, my dear," she said in a grandmotherly fashion. "It was when you held them. Do you think Harry, Alicia, Angelina, and Katie weren't suffering from getting up at five in the morning? And like it or not, the twins were obviously suffering. They didn't pull a single prank in my room the week before the championship. That was the only week in seven years I didn't have to deal with one of their pranks. While ordinarily I would have thanked you, I knew that they were sleeping in my class because you were getting them up to early."

Oliver looked at his grandmother. "Why do you always have to be right?"

"Because I'm your grandmother," she replied. "And if I were you, I'd write a letter to the papers admitting that you're Callie's father and telling them to leave you alone."

"Okay, I'll do that."

"And the twins are right," she said. "Date Ginny for a year, ask her to marry you next summer, and marry her the following summer. Trust me, it'll work out for you two. She loves you too much to ever let go of you. Claiming to be Callie's father has been a lifesaver for her."

Oliver was astounded at how intelligent his grandmother was.

A/N: Okay, so was it good? Not much action but hey, I was fighting with my computer all day. Please review and I'll write more. But I'm leaving on vacation on Thursday and I won't be back until Monday night so I may not be able to update again until next Tuesday but I'll try to update tomorrow.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I don't own HP-drat! Thanks to all my reviewers. You guys rock!

Oliver walked into Ginny's office before dinner that night. "I'm going to release a statement to the papers saying that I am Callie's father so they'll leave your family alone. And so that they'll leave you, Callie, and me alone."

Ginny sat down on her desk and looked at him. "Are you sure you want to do this? What will your family say?"

"I've already sent a letter to Mum and Dad and I'll talk to my sisters after dinner," Oliver said. "Look, Gin, I have no choice. The story was in _The Daily Prophet_ today. The story is getting out of hand and we need to control it."

Ginny sighed. "Oliver, I'm very grateful to you. It's just I don't want you to do something you don't want to do. This is going to change the way people think of you. People are going to think of you as wonderful Oliver Wood the exceptional Quidditch Keeper. Now you're going to be Oliver Wood the fink who got a girl pregnant and then didn't go anywhere near her for a year. You can come up with all the plausible explanations for avoiding me for a year you want but there are still a lot of people who are going to hate you for this."

Oliver put his hands on Ginny's shoulders. "I know that. But I don't care. What I care about is you and Callie being safe. I'm not so worried about my reputation. If you and Callie love and if my family loves me, I'm a happy guy. I know Callie loves me"

"Callie will love you no matter what," Ginny said.

"And what about you? Will you love me no matter what?"

Ginny kissed his cheek. "Of course I will, you insatiable ego."

Oliver hugged her and held her close. "Then I have nothing to fear."

"What about your family?"

Oliver grinned. "Well, my mum will blow up at me and lecture me about the evils of lying but in the end she'll tell me she's proud of me for doing the right thing. My dad won't care. My sisters, well, Maria loves you, so you're safe there. Beatrice, Juliet, and Helena seem to like you, so you're safe with them. Viola is too young to understand and Ophelia will ask me what's wrong with my head. In the end, everyone will still love me though. And my family will love you."

Ginny smiled. "I hope you're right."

"Gin, my family has to love you. You're the woman I'm in love with. Besides, my grandparents love you, so the rest of the family has to follow suit."

Ginny kissed him. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"Well, if I ever forget, I have you to remind me."

After dinner that evening, Maria, Beatrice, Juliet, and Helena Wood walked into their brother's office. Helena flopped into the chair opposite her brother. "Okay, Ollie, what's so desperately important that I had to break my date with Ryan Holiday to come see you?'

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I thought you were dating Byron Hunt."

She waved her hand. "That was last week. Byron is old news. I needed a new man."

Oliver sighed as Maria said, "I don't mind being here."

"Yes, but Maria, you practically worship Oliver," Beatrice said drolly. "You actually want to play Quidditch."

"Girls, keep it down. I have something I need to tell you," Oliver said glaring intently at his sisters.

"Let me guess," Helena said. "You're going to tell people that you're Callie's dad. Ollie, you're my brother and I know you very well. You're head over heels for Professor Weasley and you'll do anything to protect her."

"Yeah, Ollie, it's plan as can be," Beatrice said. "Why don't you just come out and announce your engagement?"

Oliver sighed. Beatrice was constantly hoping he would get married so she could be a bridesmaid. Juliet said, "They'll announce their engagement when they're ready."

 Helena added, "You need to behave yourself, Bea, you don't want to scare Professor Weasley off like you scared Katie off."

Oliver laughed. Only Ophelia knew that Katie was their cousin. After Lily and James died, Julie Wood had stopped telling her children about her sisters. As far as her younger five daughters knew, the Bells and Spinnets were just close family friends. While Juliet may not have been as good at Arithmancy as he and Helena were, she was his favorite sister because she wasn't ditzy and boy-obsessed. Maria was pretty cool too but she was so much younger. But he'd taught her to ride a broomstick and play Quidditch.

Beatrice moaned. "I didn't scare Katie off. Ollie did that by himself. I mean, who would want to date Ollie?"

"I can think of plenty of girls who would want to date Oliver," Juliet retorted.

"And stop calling me 'Ollie,'" Oliver begged his sisters. "I hate being called that name. I know Sirius Potter calls me that but he's only sixteen months old. You girls are old enough that you can say Oliver and I would really appreciate it if you would call me by the name Mum and Dad gave me when I was born. So, call me Oliver or I'll get you."

Beatrice and Helena both moaned in unison. They had called Oliver "Ollie" for years. They didn't know what they would do to tease their older brother if they couldn't call him Ollie. Oliver was over a foot taller than all of his younger sisters. They were short, slender. Well, Fred Weasley had once described Beatrice and Helena as short, skinny little wimps with dishwater blonde hair. It was, to be totally honest, an apt description. They were both about five feet tall, if that, and many people thought they were anorexic. And their hair really was the color of dirty dishwater. Maria and Juliet were prettier though. They were both healthily petite with golden blonde hair. Oliver often wondered how he had dark brown hair and brown eyes while his sisters had blonde hair and blue eyes.

Two days later, the letter Oliver had sent to the press was all over the front page of every wizarding newspaper in England. _The Daily Prophet_ had the headline "Former Puddlemore Keeper Admits to Fathering Virginia Weasley's Child."

Oliver Wood has spent the past eight years playing professional Quidditch for Puddlemore United. At the end of last season, he retired and began teaching Arithmancy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Virginia Weasley gave birth to a baby girl, Calandra Rose Weasley, on March 31 of this year. The child's father was unknown and many in the wizarding community wondered who he was. Many fingers were pointed at Miss Weasley's ex-boyfriend Colin Creevey. However, recently, an unidentified source began telling various press organs that it was Oliver Wood who was the girl's father. Giving credence to that argument was the fact that Wood and Weasley were frequently seen in public in the past few months.

Yesterday, Wood confirmed the rumors with a letter he sent to all the press organs in England.

To whom it may concern:

For many months now, many people have been speculating as to who is Calandra Weasley's father. In more recent months, rumors have placed that title on my shoulders. They were correct in doing so although I do not know how they learned of this.

I was unaware that Ms. Weasley was pregnant and had I known, I would have returned to her as soon as I found out. As it is, I am trying to make up for lost time with Ms. Weasley and our child. As Ms. Weasley and I are currently trying to work out our relationship, we would very much appreciate it if the press would leave us alone.

Sincerely,

Oliver T. Wood

The rest of the day, Oliver and Ginny heard whispers about them. Ginny noticed students in all her classes who were passing notes and whispering when they thought she wasn't looking. She sighed but didn't say anything because she figured it would die down in a few days. Also, she had put a charm on the room so that all non-class related notes would suddenly be translated into Old Church Slavonic, which she knew for a fact none of her students could read. This significantly decreased the note passing after a few minutes.

Oliver discovered that most of his female students were looking at him completely differently now. He understood why, too. Instead of being a single teacher who was probably dating Professor Weasley, he was a teacher who was definitely dating Professor Weasley and was the father of her child. Many of them didn't spend class staring at him but rather actually paying attention to the course. It was a first but not exactly a first he minded. He would prefer that his students paid attention to what he was teaching instead of his body.

That evening, Oliver walked into his girlfriend's office with Callie on his hip. "Milady, I have come to return our daughter to her rightful mother."

Ginny reached out her arms for her daughter and kissed Callie's forehead. "Were you good for Oliver? Hmm, was my little Callie angel good for the wonderful Oliver?"

"She was a perfect angel," Oliver assured her. "She was a sweetheart. She took a nap for about two hours and then she just wanted to practice sitting up, in my lap of course."

"Of course," Ginny said with a smile. "Callie wouldn't want to sit up in a crib or on the floor when she could sit up in Oliver's lap. She's a smart little girl."

Oliver kissed Ginny's cheek. "She's an amazing girl. She's so much easier to deal with than my students. Most days, my female students just want to sit and stare at my body instead of taking notes. Well, today they weren't interested in my body, which I appreciated."

"What's wrong with your body?" Ginny asked. "I think it's a very nice body. You and I need to go swimming more often."

Oliver shook his head. "Woman, I want to be known for my brains not for my body!"

"You have a beautiful brain," she teased. "You just also have a beautiful body."

Oliver smiled. "You know, it would be so much easier to kiss you right now if you weren't holding Callie."

"Sorry, Charlie," she said. "You know the rules. Callie comes first; you come second. I love you but I love her more."

Oliver smiled. "I know. It's just hard sometimes."

"You'll have to live with it. My daughter is my first priority."

"I could just kill Michael Corner some days," Oliver muttered under his breath.

Ginny stroked his shoulder soothingly with her free hand. "It's all right, Oliver. I'm fine. Callie and I are very happy especially now that you're in our lives. Callie says she thinks you are her daddy."

Oliver kissed Callie's little button of a nose. "Well, I think of her as my daughter despite the fact that I've never been with her mother like that."

"And if you ever are, it'll be because you're married to her mother," Ginny replied. "I don't need any more little surprises. I love this one but I'd prefer that I had the rest of my children after I was married."

Oliver took a step back. He nodded slowly. "All right, I respect that and I understand where you're coming from."

"Thank you," she said softly. "Thanks for always understanding this stuff. I know it has to be hard for you and most guys wouldn't put up with this but it's just the way I need things to be right now. Callie's only six months old and I need to look out for her above all else. But Oliver, I do love you. You are the second most important person in my life."

Oliver nodded. "I love you too, Ginny. But I do understand why things need to be this way. I love you enough to accept this because I love your daughter too. I know we need to take things slowly and I'm going to work with that."

Then he found a way to kiss her on the lips even with Callie in her arms.

A/N: okay, so this is shorter than usual but as you know if you read my note in the last chapter you know that I'm leaving on vacation tomorrow. I have to be at the airport at seven in the morning, which means I have to get up at five. GRRRRRRRRRR! Well, please review and I hope you like this very sappy and strange chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So, for everyone who hasn't figured this out by now, I don't own Harry Potter.

Everything was going smoothly for Oliver and Ginny. Their relationship was slowly progressing. Oliver found himself falling in love with both Ginny and Callie. Ginny was falling love with Oliver and her daughter adored him. Oliver's sisters were warming up to Ginny and spending more time with her than just in classes.

Then late one Friday night in December, about a week before Christmas holidays, Helena Wood walked into Ginny's office where Ginny was sitting grading papers. Oliver was in Ginny's bedroom playing with Callie. "Professor Weasley," Helena said.

Ginny looked up. "Yes, Miss Wood?"

"Can I talk to you about something, something well, uh, personal?"

"Certainly, sit down."

Helena sat down in the chair opposite Ginny. "You know how Oliver says I go through a boyfriend a week?"

Ginny nodded and Helena went on. "So, about two or three months ago, I slept with Ed Jacobs. And then I haven't gotten my period since then. So I did that charm to see if you're pregnant and I am."

Ginny sighed. "How long have you known?"

"About a month," Helena said shyly. "I need help telling Oliver; I'm afraid to tell him."

Oliver had heard everything from Ginny's room and walked into the office carrying Callie. "Helena, why are you afraid to tell me this?"

Helena looked at her brother standing in the doorway and gasped. "You heard everything?"

"Every single word," he replied. "Helena, why do you feel you can't talk to me about this? Do you think I'm going to kill you?"

"You'll tell Mum and Dad and they'll kill me," Helena moaned as tears poured down her cheeks. "They'll disown me and then I'll have to go live on the streets. They'll hate me for this. They'll lecture me on what an idiot I am."

Oliver sat down next to his sister. "You are an idiot, Helena. You date every guy you can get your hands on. Eventually, this was bound to happen. I hate to sound so critical, but in a way, you brought this upon yourself. I'm going to help you out with this, but I'm going to help you by helping you tell McGonagall and our parents." He glared at his sister. "Helena, you're going to have to deal with the consequences of your actions."

Helena moaned. "But I don't want to have a baby. I'm only sixteen. I'm too young to deal with being a mother. I don't want this stupid baby. I want to get rid of it."

"No," Oliver said firmly. "You're going to have that baby. You can give the child up for adoption after the birth but you are not killing your child. I will not allow it."

"But I'll get kicked out of Hogwarts," Helena whined. "And no one will want to date me. And I'll be fat and ugly."

Ginny snorted. "You lose the weight and you're not dating for about six months. It's not that terrible."

Helena moaned again. "I don't want a baby. It's too much work. Can't I just get rid of the kid now?"

Oliver glared at his sister. "Stand up," he barked. "We're going to McGonagall's office now and you're going to tell her everything." He handed Callie to Ginny. "I'll see you in the morning, darling."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "See you then."

Oliver half dragged his sister to his grandmother's office. Of course, Helena didn't know that Prof. McGonagall and Prof. Dumbledore were her grandparents but oh well. He knocked on the door and heard a very tired "Who is it?"

"It's me, Oliver," he replied. "I have a slight situation."

"Come in," the tired voice replied.

Oliver opened the door and went into the office. Minerva McGonagall was sitting at her desk marking papers. She smiled but that smile immediately disappeared when she saw his sister behind him. "Miss Wood," she said curtly.

"Helena, sit down," Oliver barked at his silent sister. She obeyed his orders. "Professor, Helena needs to talk to you about something."

Helena had a deer caught in the headlights expression on her face. She stared at her teacher and head of house for a while, and then blurted out, "I'm pregnant."

Minerva McGonagall stared at her granddaughter who didn't know they were related. "When did this happen?" she said firmly.

Helena stared at her fingers and mumbled, "About three months ago."

"Who is the father?" the older woman said firmly.

"Ed Jacobs," she whimpered. "And I don't want to keep the baby."

"You're carrying the baby to term," Oliver stated. "You can give the baby up for adoption or something but I will not let you kill an innocent child. You are going to learn that your actions have consequences."

Minerva looked at her grandson and then her granddaughter. Then she nodded. "Helena, I am going to agree with your brother. You will keep this child. After the birth, I will arrange for a wizarding family to take your child, but you will not kill your baby."

"But Mum and Dad will kill me," Helena moaned. "And I'll be fat and ugly."

"Helena," Professor McGonagall said slowly. "I need to tell you something. It's something that you can never discuss with any of your classmates or even anyone in this castle. The only people here who know about this are the teachers. I'm married and I have four children. I have three daughters and a son, however my son died about twenty-one years ago. My son was named James and my daughters are named Margaret, Emma, and Julie."

"Is your husband dead?" Helena asked.

"No, Professor Dumbledore is my husband."

Helena gasped. "You're married to Professor Dumbledore. But I've never heard of any other Dumbledores."

"That's because we raised our daughters under the named McKinnon and our son under the last name Potter."

"My mum's maiden name is McKinnon."

Oliver sighed. "Helena, Mum is Professor McGonagall's oldest daughter. Harry Potter, Katie Bell-Weasley, and Alicia Spinnet-Weasley are our cousins."

"You're my grandmother?" Helena gasped. "And Professor Dumbledore is my grandfather. This is so weird. I can't believe Mum and Dad never told us about this. Why wouldn't they tell us this? I always thought that Mum had a huge spat with her parents and that was why we never see them. Why aren't we allowed to know that you're our Grandmum?"

"Think about it, Helena," Oliver said. "If people knew that you were related to your teacher and the headmaster, they would be naturally suspicious. People would think that you hadn't earned your grades but rather you got the grades you got because of familial favoritism. I have to be careful not to treat you with favoritism because you're my sister. And we were never told because Mum was afraid we couldn't keep our mouths shut."

Helena looked at her brother. "So I have to keep this baby and then my family will arrange for an adoption?"

Oliver nodded. "Helena, I don't want you to do anything you'll regret for the rest of your life and you would regret killing your baby. I've killed people before and while I don't regret it, I do wish that there had been another way to protect Harry and Bill besides killing Bellatrix Lestrange and Goyle."

"I still have nightmares because of some of the things I saw in the battles," Professor McGonagall said. "You would be making a decision you would regret for the rest of your life."

Helena looked at her brother again and then at her grandmother. "All right, I'll keep the baby as long as Oliver takes care of it after it's born."

Oliver nodded. "That's fine with me."

"Oliver," his grandmother said. "Could you go get Edmund Jacobs from his room?"

Oliver walked into the Gryfinndor common room and looked around. He saw Ed Jacobs sitting in a corner with a blonde girl. "Mr. Jacobs," Oliver said firmly. "Professor McGonagall needs to see you immediately."

Ed was a seventh year. "Why this late at night, Professor Wood?"

"You'll see when you get there. This is very urgent. Tell Miss Wallis you'll see her later."

Ed kissed Ellie Wallis. "I'll be back soon, baby."

Oliver grabbed Ed's arm. "Come along now. This is very urgent."

Ed followed Oliver down the hall. "Why does Professor McGonagall need to see me? Did I do something? I don't get this. Professor Wood, do you even know why she needs to see me?"

Oliver was walking a few steps ahead of the boy. "I know why she needs to see you but I think she needs to tell you. This much I will tell you. There are always consequences for your actions and sometimes it will seem like the cost is more than you can bear."

Ed gave Oliver a confused look but he refused to say anymore. He opened the door to Professor McGonagall's office. Ed gasped when he saw Helena sitting in a chair talking to the older woman. "What's she doing here?" he said pointing to his ex-girlfriend. "I thought I told you I didn't want to see you ever again."

"Sit down, Jacobs," McGonagall barked. "Miss Wood has something she needs to tell you."

Ed sat down and looked at Professor McGonagall. "How about she tells you and you tell me?"

"Ed, this isn't that kind of a thing," Helena said. "I'm pregnant and it's your baby because you're the only guy I've slept with."

Ed just stared at her. Then he said, "Yeah, right. Like I'm supposed to believe that; you just want to get back together and you're trying to trick me into it."

"I'm serious," Helena said. "I've known for two months now, but I've been afraid to tell anyone."

"Oh, so that's why you gave up dating," Ed said. "I thought it was just a weird move to get me back. Little did I know how far you'd go to get me back."

"I don't want you back," Helena said. "I just want you to know that you're going to be a father. I'm going to give the baby up for adoption after she's born. I didn't even want to tell you this. It was all Professor McGonagall's idea. She thinks you need to know. I don't care whether or not you know. I just want you and your child out of my life."

Ed stared at her. No girl had ever told him she wanted him out of her life. In fact, he'd always ended his relationships; no girl had ever ended the relationship. He thought he was a stud and everyone wanted a piece of him. "You don't want me? What's wrong with you, Helena? I'm the most desirable guy at Hogwarts."

Oliver snorted. Ed looked at him. Oliver shrugged. "What? I just think you're a pompous jackass."

Ed rolled his eyes. "You just think that because you're a man. If you were a woman, you'd be all over me."

Professor McGonagall glared at him. "Mr. Jacobs, you will excuse yourself to your room now. I have had enough of you for one evening. I merely wanted you informed that Miss Wood is carrying your child. Now you will leave us. Professor Wood, please escort Mr. Jacobs and Miss Wood to their common room."

Ed and Helena wouldn't even look at each other the entire way to the common room. Oliver sighed and just let them be. He was ready to kill both of them but he knew that wouldn't solve any problems. Why was Helena like this? Why did she date anything that moved? Ophelia had liked boys but she hadn't been this bad. She wasn't even dating anyone at the moment. Oliver had dated Katie steadily for two years and then not dated again until he started dating Ginny five months earlier. Why did Helena feel this need to have boys staring at her constantly?

At the portrait hole, Ed said, "Just for the record, I don't want anything to do with this kid."

"Well, I'm just going to give birth to it," Helena said. "Then someone else is going to deal with it."

"So you're not going to bug me for money or anything?"

"Not on your life. I don't want anything from you. It's bad enough having to carry your child. Just go fuck yourself."

Oliver rolled his eyes as the two walked into the portrait hole. Then he went down to Ginny's office. Ginny wasn't at her desk anymore so he went into her rooms. She was sitting in her bed reading. Callie was in her cradle, sleeping. Oliver sat down on the bed and looked at the cover of Ginny's book. It was a parenting book. Ginny looked up at him. She was wearing glasses. Oliver leaned his head on her shoulder. "Now I understand why you don't want to have sex with me until after we get married."

"What makes you think we're really going to get married?" Ginny teased.

"I don't. I'm just hoping we will," he said with a smile.

"So what happened with Helena?"

"Ed Jacobs is a jerk."

"You didn't know this before? Oh, before I forget, McGonagall owled your parents about this. They'll be here tomorrow."

"Does this mean I have to go to my own room? I can't just crash here."

Ginny patted his head. "As much as I love you, I want you to sleep in your own bed tonight."

Oliver kissed her. "Then I guess I will high myself to bed now."

Ginny kissed him. "Before you do that, I have a question. What made you understand about my premarital sex deal?"

"My sister," Oliver said. "Her life is a mess right now because she had sex when she was only sixteen. I mean, I don't want to destroy our relationship; I love you too much to jeopardize what we have together."

Ginny kissed him. "You're so good to me. I love you."

Oliver gasped. This was the first time she'd said that to him. "I love you, too," he whispered.

They sat there kissing for a while then Oliver said, "Well, if my parents are coming tomorrow, I should go back to my room now."

Ginny nodded and disentangled herself from his arms. Then he climbed off the bed. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, love," she replied. She knew the next day would be hard for him. He would have to deal with his parents' reactions to Helena's pregnancy. She knew his parents were not going to respond well to this. His grandmother had just about blown a gasket when she heard the news; his parents would be no better.

Oliver was both excited and worried. Ginny loved him; she was in love with him. But then Helena was pregnant. His mum was going to kill Helena and his dad would kill Ed. Oh gosh, tomorrow was going to be interesting. He just couldn't wait!

A/N: I'm SO sorry this took so long. I was in California, then I got sick, and now it's my birthday so everything is all coo-coo! Please review! I hope you guys like this.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: For the ninth time, I don't own Harry Potter. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I really appreciate it. And thanks to Sarahamanda for wishing me a happy birthday. (I had a great birthday. I saw Spiderman 2 twice in as many days.) I would have had this up last night, but fanfiction.net was being bad.

Ginnyrules890: Okay, so he remembered hearing stories about his grandmother from his mother but he didn't know who his grandmother was. He found out who his grandparents were when he was twenty. I hope that clears things up for you.

Okay, by the way, I'm doing a quick thing of the Dumbledore family because several people have said this family confuses them.

Minerva Catrione McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore are married. They have four children. Their daughters had the maiden name "McKinnon" which was Minerva's mother's maiden name. Their son had the last name "Potter" which was Albus's mother's maiden name.

Juliana Catrione McKinnon or Julie is their oldest. She is married to Robert William Wood. They have seven children: Oliver Thomas, Ophelia Grace, Helena Minerva, Juliet Miranda, Beatrice Anne, Maria Elizabeth, and Viola Jayne.

Margaret Caroline McKinnon or Maggie is the second oldest. She is married to Christopher Adam Bell. They have three children: Michael Brian, Adam Jacob, and Katherine Theresa.

Emma Rose McKinnon is the second youngest. She is married to Harrison John Spinnet. They have four children: John Brian, Alicia Clare, Aaron Michael, and Lily Marie.

James Potter was the youngest. He was married to Lily Evans. They had one son, Harry James Potter, who survived them. And now on the with the story…

The next morning, Oliver woke up and moaned. His parents would be arriving soon. They were taking the Floo Network to his office. His mother had told his grandmother that she wanted to talk to Oliver before she talked to Helena. Oliver was dreading this. He knew his mother would be angry with Helena. She had understood his claims to be Callie's father but he knew that he would not understand this. Oliver had been protecting a friend; Helena was doing something Julie Wood considered to be a moral outrage.

When Julie and Robert Wood arrived in their son's office at ten o'clock, they were both in terrible moods. Julie Wood stepped out of her son's fireplace and dusted her robes off saying, "Honestly, Oliver, some days you're my only hope. You're my only child who hasn't managed to get themselves into a load of trouble recently."

"Julie, you forget Maria and Viola haven't caused you any trouble recently," his husband said climbing out of the fireplace.

"Yes, dear, you're right," she said sweetly. "But they're so young that one doesn't expect them to cause trouble. Besides, I've even had a letter from Hogwarts about Maria. Oliver is my only good child. Oliver, just marry Ginny in the next year or two and you'll win that title for life."

"Speaking of which," Robert Wood said. "When do we get to meet Miss Weasley and her daughter?"

"Whenever you want to," Oliver replied. "Ginny and Callie are free all day so they can meet you at any time."

"Well," his mother said. "I want to speak to Mother and Helena first. I would like to know why my daughter has been sexually involved with a boy when she is only sixteen. One would think she would be responsible enough to know not to fool around with such things at her age."

Oliver looked at his mother. "Maybe she'll listen to you because she certainly hasn't been listening to Grandmum or me lately."

"Oliver, does your sister know that her grandmother is also her teacher?" his mother asked.

"Grandmum told her last night," Oliver said, suddenly interested in looking for something under his desk.

"Why doesn't my mother trust me to tell my children this in my own good time?" Julie Wood yelled. "She told you, she told Ophelia, and now she tells Helena. I had a plan to tell you this but she told you before I got a chance."

"Mum, I was twenty when Grandmum told me," Oliver said pointedly. "When exactly did you intend to tell me that Harry Potter is my cousin? When did you intend to tell me that I had dated my own cousin for two years? That whole relationship looks disgusting in past tense."

"He's right, Julie, and you know it," Robert Wood said. "Maggie and Chris had you parents tell Michael, Adam, and Katie on their fifteenth birthdays. Emma and Harrison told John, Alicia, Aaron, and Lily on their eighteenth birthdays. Your parents told Harry on his sixteenth birthday. And we've yet to tell our children. You wanted to wait until they were married. Oliver is twenty-six and Ophelia is eighteen. Oliver found out when he was recruited for the Order of the Phoenix and Ophelia found out because your mum felt she deserved to know the truth. Helena knows because of her current situation. When will you tell Juliet, Beatrice, Maria, and Viola? You can't wait forever to tell them. They have a right to know who your parents are. I think we should do what Emma and Harrison do and tell the younger girls on their eighteenth birthday."

Julie looked at her husband and her son. He was right and she knew it. Oliver was right and she knew it. She nodded. "All right, we'll try that method with our remaining children. Oliver, I'm sorry we didn't tell you ourselves."

Oliver hugged his mother. "It's all right, Mum. You had your reasons."

Julie patted her son's back. "I'd love to spend more time with you but right now we need to go deal with Helena."

Oliver nodded as his parents left his office.

A few minutes later, he was in Ginny's office eating breakfast with her. She was trying to feed Callie some sort of fruit baby food but more of the food ended up on Ginny's hands and face than in Callie's mouth. Callie also kept grabbing her mother's hair and pulling it. When her mother grimaced or screamed, the baby would smile. Ginny sighed. "Callie," she said. "Why are you so much trouble?"

"Gin, she's related to Fred and George," Oliver said. "What do you expect her to do?"

"I wish she was more calm and demure."

"Who in your family is calm and demure?"

"My mother?" Ginny said questioningly.

Oliver gave her a look that said, "Umm, yeah, sure." Then he said, "You can think that if you like. I won't get in your way."

Ginny shook her head. "I know I love you but sometimes I don't know why."

"You love me because I'm handsome, intelligent, good with your daughter and incredibly cocky."

"And you admit that you're cocky," Ginny said. "I'm always glad when a man can admit that he's cocky."

Oliver smiled. Then Callie's baby food covered fist hit his face. He had orange squash goop on his face. Callie flashed a toothless smile at her mother's boyfriend. Oliver shook his head and then kissed the little girl's cheek. She grinned as he shook his head. Oliver then picked her up and said, "I'll clean her up."

Ginny smiled as he took out his wand and quickly cleaned the girl up. Then he cleaned himself and then Ginny. Ginny smiled as he handed Callie to her. Her daughter was clinging to her neck. Oliver smiled. "Oh, my mother and father want to meet you two. I was thinking we could have lunch with them."

Ginny nodded. "All right, do you want to take them to the Three Broomsticks?"

He smiled. "That would be good. I'll admit it won't be very quiet. But it's either that or the Great Hall."

"The Three Broomsticks," Ginny said quickly.

Ginny and Oliver walked into the Three Broomsticks at five minutes before noon. Ginny was carrying Callie in her arms. Madame Rosmerta hurried over to them. "A table for three?"

Oliver shook his head. "For five, my parents will be joining us."

Madame Rosmerta smiled and led them to a booth. "I'll be back with a high chair for this little angel in a minute," she said as she tickled Callie's arm.

As the woman walked away, Oliver's parents walked in. They walked over to the booth quickly. Julie Wood hugged her son and then turned to Ginny. "You must be Ginny Weasley and this precious little angel must be Callie."

Ginny nodded. "Yes, it's nice to meet you, Mrs. Wood."

Julie Wood smiled as her husband introduced himself to their son's girlfriend. Ginny Weasley seemed like a nice girl. Her daughter was a sweet little girl. Madame Rosmerta brought a high chair for Callie just as Julie and Robert were sitting down across from Oliver and Ginny. Ginny settled Callie in the high chair and they began to look at the menu.

Julie looked at Ginny. "What do you recommend? I haven't been here since I left Hogwarts thirty years ago."

Ginny glanced over the menu. "The chicken sandwich is always excellent."

"Or if you're more adventurous there's the newt sandwich, which tastes just like chicken."

His father laughed and his mother shot him a look. "Ginny, do you recommend anything else?" Julie asked.

"Well," Ginny said looking over the menu. "The frog sandwich is excellent. I usually come here more for their butterbeer than anything else."

Julie nodded. "I think I'll take your advice on that chicken sandwich."

A minute later, the waitress came over. "Can I get you folks anything to drink?"

Oliver said, "Butterbeer" at the exact same moment as Ginny.

His mother said, "I'll have a large gillywater."

"Two butterbeers, a large gillywater; anything for you sir?" the waitress asked Mr. Wood who was still studying his menu.

"Ah, yes, I'll have a butterbeer as well," he said.

"All right, three butterbeers and a large gillywater. I'll get those for you and be back a minute to take your orders."

Mrs. Wood looked at Ginny. "So, Oliver tells me Callie is eight months old. Is she learning to crawl yet?"

Ginny smiled. "She is. She goes everywhere she can."

"She's so cute the way she crawls all over the place. She loves being able to go where she wants to," Oliver said, his voice filled with fatherly pride. "When she learned to sit up a few months ago, she was so proud of herself. She would just sit there and smile at you like she wanted you to congratulate her."

As if she knew someone was talking about her, Callie started banging her fists on the tray of her high chair. Ginny looked at her. "Shh," she said, putting her finger to her lips.

Callie mimicked her mother's motion with a toothless grin and kept banging on the tray. Ginny shook her head, and then said, "Callie, please stop." She didn't want to hurt her daughter but wasn't sure what else to do other than grab the little girl's wrists. Then Robert took the baby out of her chair. He settled her in his lap and whispered softly to her. Instantly the baby settled down and stopped waving her fists. She was more interested in the watch that Robert Wood wore on a chain that was clipped to a belt loop on his pants. She fumbled as she tried to pick it up with her little baby fingers. Ginny smiled. Oliver looked at his father. "I remember that watch. I used to sit on your lap and play with that."

"And I used to sit on my father's knee and play with it," his father said. "It's been in the Wood family for generations. And when you get married, I'll give it to you."

Oliver smiled. Then his mother said, "So, Oliver, Ginny, what do you know about Ed Jacobs?"

"That he's a fink," Ginny said without thinking. Then, realizing what she had said, "He is always flirting with every girl he sees. He dates every girl in sight and flirts with other girls when he's on a date. He's terrible."

Oliver nodded. "He sits in class and flirts with girls. He's a rat. I don't know why Helena got messed up with him in the first place."

"Because she thought he was good looking," Ginny said. "He has this way of getting girls to date him."

"You hear students talking about it all the time," Oliver added.

His parents were amazed at how much the two could tell them. But Julie Wood was smiling at the way the pair was finishing each other's sentences and completing each other's thoughts. Ginny gave her a look. "What are you smiling at?"

"You," she said. "You two are acting like an old married couple."

Ginny shook her head. "You're not the first person to say that."

"Grandmum says it," Oliver agreed. "And several other teachers have said that as well."

"Well, they're right," his mother said to him. "You two finish each other's sentences. And the way you look at each other, well, you look like you're in love."

"Well," Ginny said, blushing. "We are in love."

Oliver nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I love her very much."

"Oliver, I hate to say this, but your mother and I don't want you to come home for the holidays," his father said after their orders had been taken. "We need to talk to your sisters."

Oliver nodded as Ginny said; "He could spend holidays with my family. They'd love to have him. And there's so many people in my family no one would notice an extra person. Another mouth at the dinner table would hardly be noticed. And they all love Oliver so much they would be happy for any excuse to see him."

"And I'll be able to spend Christmas with my favorite godson," Oliver added. "After all, the Potters always spend Christmas with the Weasleys."

Ginny smiled. "And you'll be there for Callie's first Christmas."

Oliver smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Robert looked at the baby in his lap. "Julie and I will be sure to send this little angel something for her mother to stick under the Christmas tree for her."

"What does she need, Ginny?" Julie asked.

Ginny gasped. "You're the first person to ask me what she needs. Most people just tell me they'll get her clothes or toys."

"Well, you know Grandfather will get her some socks," Oliver said.

Ginny laughed. "Your grandfather seems to really love socks for some reason. And my parents and my sisters-in-law will get her things that they know she needs, but most other people will just get her ridiculous things like clothes that are the wrong size or just something she'd never wear."

"I know how you feel," Julie said. "When Oliver was born, people gave me the most ridiculous nonsense for him. Half of it, he never used. I never understood why people gave me some of the things they gave me for him. It was perfectly stupid."

Ginny smiled. "When Ginny was born, I had more than twenty baby blankets."

Everyone else at the table smiled. Then Oliver said, "So, Mum, Dad, what are you going to do with Helena?"

"We're going to take her out of school for the rest of the term," his mother said. "She'll go back in the fall, maybe. I'm not sure what I want to do with that girl."

A/N: Okay, so it wasn't as good as it could have been and everyone kept changing the topic randomly. Please review this bad chapter kindly.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Still not owning HP, but I'll keep working on changing that. Bookworm12, thanks a million. 

Oliver looked at Ginny. She was sitting at a desk with her head in her hands. He was standing in the doorway with Callie on his hip. He'd been standing there for over ten minutes but she had yet to notice him. She was staring at a pile of papers on her desk but at the same time, it was as if she couldn't see them. He cleared his throat. She jumped and looked at him. "Oliver!" she said. "Callie! How long have you two been standing there?"

Oliver smiled as he walked into the room. "Just a few minutes," he lied. He sat down opposite her and settled Callie in his lap. "What's on your mind?" he asked.

She held up the two papers she'd been staring at. "This, it's the most recent second year charms test. This test," she said waving the test in her left hand. "This is your sister's test. And the other test is Janna Madden's test. They're best friends and they sit right next to each other. And they have the exact same answers. There were thirty questions on the test and they each only got twenty correct."

Oliver took the two papers from Ginny and looked at them. She was right; it did look as though Beatrice had cheated off Janna. Janna was much smarter than Beatrice and everyone knew it. "Oh gosh," he muttered. "Mum and Dad are going to kill Beatrice when they find out about this. It's not bad enough that Helena is pregnant but now Beatrice is cheating on exams. Ginny, you're not the only teacher to talk to me about this.  Grandmum talked to me about it earlier today. Other teachers have talked to me about it recently. I have no clue what I'm going to do about this."

"I'm going to send an owl to your parents and I'm meeting with Janna and Beatrice after the holidays to talk to them about this. They're leaving tomorrow so I have no choice but to wait until January."

"When are you sending the owl to my parents?" Oliver asked.

"That's what I'm debating," Ginny said. "In some ways, I don't want to do that until after I talk to Beatrice and Janna and I'm sure of what's going one but in other ways I'd like your parents to talk to them first. I'm not sure what I should do."

Oliver looked at the baby in his lap. "Callie, what do you think your mum should do? Should she tell my parents about my sister cheating now or after Christmas holidays?"

Callie smiled and gurgled. Oliver looked in the baby's mouth. "When did she start cutting that tooth?"

"Just in the past week," Ginny said. "She hasn't been sleeping much lately because her gums are hurting so much. But back to the Beatrice situation, what should you do?"

"Well, Grandmum is talking to her now," Oliver said thinking aloud. "If you want to, you could talk to her tomorrow morning before she leaves and then send an owl to my parents. And don't worry about ruining Beatrice's holiday; it's going to be quite miserable as it is."

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"While I spend the holiday with your lovely family, Viola, Maria, Beatrice, and Juliet will spend it with my dad's parents. Ophelia will be with her boyfriend," Oliver's eyes were filled with something akin to anger. "I don't like my little sisters dating."

"Oliver, you have to let them grow up some time. You can't let them be five years old forever. But then I'm the one with brothers who will defend my honor with violence. The only woman I know with brothers who are worse than mine is Maya. Maya's brothers were ready to kill Charlie when he was dating Maya."

Oliver sighed. "You women all stick together. Now, I want you to talk to Bea before she leaves. She needs to get her act together and if she thinks she's going to get away with something like this, she's got something else coming to her. That girl needs to get her act in order."

Ginny could hear the anger in his voice. "Oliver, she's twelve years old. Go easy on her. You can't expect her to be an adult overnight."

"She's cheating in her classes. She's not doing her own work and you want me to go easy on her. I'll be back." With that, Oliver handed Callie to Ginny and walked out of the room.

Oliver walked into his grandmother's office to find her grading a stack of papers. "Where's Beatrice?" he asked.

"She left about five minutes ago," she said. "Of course she has a month of detention after the holidays. What's bothering you, Oliver?" Minerva McGonagall-Dumbledore took off her glasses and looked at her grandson. He seemed upset. "Oliver, sit down and talk to me."

Oliver sat down opposite his grandmother and told her everything. He told her how Beatrice was cheating in five of her classes. He told her how this whole situation with Helena was driving him crazy. He told her how he was in love with Ginny and it was just taking up his entire being. All he wanted to do was strangle his sisters and be with Ginny. He was amazed at how patiently his grandmother listened to him. She just sat there and listened.

When Oliver was done talking, his grandmother looked at him. "Oliver," she said slowly. "What I'm about to say, I don't wait to say. But it needs to be said. Beatrice is going to be expelled. If she is cheating in five classes, then she must be expelled. She admitted to me when she was in here earlier that she is indeed cheating and therefore she must leave. She's packing now and I'll take her to see your grandfather shortly. I wish I didn't have to do this but I'm going to do it anyway. Oliver, just go to your room and go to bed. I'll deal with this with your parents soon."

Oliver nodded and went over to his grandmother. She hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Oliver, everything will work out," she whispered. "True love always finds a way."

The next morning, Beatrice walked into her brother's office. Oliver was packing his trunk for Christmas with the Weasleys. "Oliver," she said choking back tears. "Oliver, Mum and Dad are going to kill me. I've been expelled from Hogwarts. Helena didn't even get expelled for getting pregnant. I'm the first person in Wood family history to get expelled from Hogwarts."

And the only person in Hogwarts history to be expelled by her own grandparents, Oliver thought to himself. To his sister he said, "I'm very sorry about this, Bea."

His sister looked at him and said, "I know what you're thinking. You're sorry but you think I got what I had coming to me. And you know what Mum is going to say to me. She'll say, 'Beatrice, this is all your fault. If you had done your own work and not cheated off of Janna, this wouldn't have happened to you. Oliver and Ophelia never did anything like this.' Then she'll go off on a long rant directed at Helena and me about how we've both done something that is very wrong and neither Oliver nor Ophelia would ever do anything like this. Oliver, why did you have to be perfect? Couldn't you have done something wrong while you were in school?"

"I did do something wrong," Oliver said. "Once I got into a fight with Professor McGonagall because she took Harry's broomstick away from him to make sure that it wasn't trying to kill him and I wanted to know when he could have it back."

"That's the worst thing you ever did?" Beatrice said. "You really were Mr. Good Boy. All you did was play Quidditch and do schoolwork. You dated Katie Bell for two years and were never unfaithful to you. Oliver, you two have gone down in Gryfinndor history as The Most Perfect Couple Ever. You were faithful to each other, you almost never argued, and you always made up within seven hours of a fight. Why on earth did you two break up?"

"Did it ever occur to you that being perfect isn't always fun?" Oliver said. "We were perfect but we weren't happy. Being the perfect couple wasn't what it was made out to be. We stopped loving each other as boyfriend and girlfriend and started loving each other as brother and sister. To this day, all that Katherine Theresa Bell-Weasley is to me is a sister. She's a sister I love very much but I love her as a sister. And it's Ginny that I love now."

Beatrice looked at her older brother. "I never knew that was why you broke up with Katie. I always assumed it was something dumb like your relationship couldn't survive if she had two more years of school and you were going off to play professional Quidditch. I thought that was so weird because everyone knows that you two could have fought your way through anything. You two seemed to love each other so much that I used to think you were going to marry her."

"Katie and I realized that we had more of platonic relationship," Oliver said. "And I'm not going to tell you the whole story because you're twelve years old and that's really too young. You're too young to understand this."

"That's what everyone says. Beatrice, you're too young too understand this. I hate this!" Beatrice started yelling. "I'm too young to understand the consequences of what's happening to Helena. That's what McGonagall says, that's what Mum and Dad say, that's what you say, and I even went and asked your stupid girlfriend to explain it to me and she bloody said I was too young! Why am I too young? Why does everyone say that?"

"Probably because it's true," Oliver stated flatly. "You are too younger to understand what all of this means for the rest of Helena's life. You think you're mature but you're not done growing up. You're only twelve and you have plenty of life in front of you."

"I hate you!" Beatrice yelled, throwing a book at her brother. "Oliver Thomas Wood, I hate you and I never want to see you again in my entire life!"

The book Beatrice had hurled at Oliver hit him in the face, breaking his nose. Ginny walked in just as Beatrice walked out. She ran to his side as soon as she saw him clutching his face. "Oh, Oliver, are you all right?"

Sarcastically, he replied, "Oh, yes, Ginny, I'm absolutely wonderful. I've never felt better in my life. I've always wanted my twelve-year-old sister to break my nose."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "What I meant was would you like me to help you to the hospital wing? I really think you should have Madame Pomfrey look at that nose of yours. It's really ugly."

When they arrived in Madame Pomfrey's hospital wing a few minutes later, she looked at Oliver and said, "Great Caesar's ghost, Oliver, what on earth happened to your face? You never once did anything to that face of yours playing Quidditch so how on earth could you injure it as a teacher?"

"By sister threw a book at bee," Oliver said.

"Why on earth did your sister throw a book at you? And which sister was it?" Madam Pomfrey said, taking out her wand. "And please take your hands away from your face. This will just take a moment."

Oliver took his hands away from his face and let the nurse fix his nose magically. Then he said, "Beatrice broke my nose because apparently she hates me."

Ginny stroked his nose with her index finger. "You poor thing. Your twelve-year-old sister hates you. Your life is in utter shambles."

"Oh cut it out, Virginia Kathryn," Oliver said. "Stop teasing me. I have to finish packing if we're going to be at your mother's in time for dinner."

Ginny and Oliver walked out of the hospital wing and headed back to his office. "Where's Callie?" Oliver asked suddenly realizing that Ginny didn't have her daughter with her.

"Oh, she's with your grandmother," Ginny replied quickly. "I asked her to watch her while I packed."

"Callie is watching Grandmum?" Oliver joked. "Poor Callie, it sounds like an impossible job. I know I wouldn't volunteer for it."

"Okay, Oliver, that's beautiful. You wouldn't baby-sit your grandmother. I'm glad to hear that. She's a little old to need babysitting. Are you done packing?"

Oliver smiled at the sudden babble pouring out of Ginny's mouth. "Yes, I finished just before Bea's visit. Why do you ask?"

"Because I may have forgotten to tell you a few things about some of my brother's wives in the past few months," Ginny said bashfully. "And I need to catch you up on the latest news."

"Okay, what's up in the wonderful world of the Weasleys?" Oliver asked as they walked into his office. His grandmother was sitting on the desk holding Callie.

Professor McGonagall handed Callie to Ginny saying; "I couldn't find you in your office so we came in here."

"Beatrice broke my nose and we went to see Madam Pomfrey," Oliver explained quickly. "But my nose is all better now."

"That's good," Minerva said. "I wanted to wish you both a very Happy Christmas. You'll find your presents from Albus and me under the tree on Christmas morning."

Ginny gave Minerva a one-armed hug. "Thanks so much for watching Callie for me."

"It's my pleasure. She's a wonderful little girl, not half the trouble that boy was," Minerva was pointing to Oliver. "He was a holy terror. I used to watch him when his mother was a teacher here, but after Lily and James died there was no more of that. The family just fell apart for fear of what would happen to the rest of us."

Olive looked at his grandmother. "I never knew that before."

"Well, it was only for about five years and you were never really old enough to remember it but some times, the summer before Lily and James died, I would baby-sit you, Harry, the Bells, and the Spinnets at my summer house to give your parents some free time."

After Professor McGonagall left, Ginny looked at Oliver. "What did your mum teach when she taught here?"

Oliver smiled ironically. "She taught Arithmancy. She was the teacher before Professor Vector. She was the reason I was so good at it when I was a student here; she taught it to me before I even started at Hogwarts. She stopped teaching when Aunt Lily died. She said she wanted to spend more time with me. Then, three years later she started having the girls. So I'm not sure if she wanted to spend more time with me or if she wanted more kids."

Ginny smiled. "Well, being one of seven kids I can understand that theory. But I'm the baby and you're the oldest. You have six younger sisters and I have six older brothers. We're each other's exact opposite in that department."

Oliver smiled. "You're right. Well, we should get going if we're going to be at your mum's house in time for dinner. Oh, what did you need to tell me about your family news?"

"Oh¸ that," Ginny said. "Katie is six months pregnant and Alicia is four months pregnant."

"But they both just had babies in April!" Oliver said. "Maggie's eight months old and that means Katie got pregnant when Maggie was two months old. That's so weird."

"Well, to quote Bill, Fred moves fast."

Fifteen minutes later, Oliver, Ginny, Callie, and their luggage appeared in the Weasleys' kitchen fireplace. They stepped into the kitchen and heard Katie Weasley say, "Well, it's about time you two got here. We've been wondering if you were going to come at all. Dinner's ready and everyone's waiting for you."

"It's nice to see you too, Katie," Oliver said.

A/N: Okay, sorry it took so long to get this one up. I've been busy. Plus I'm not sure I want to continue it. My muses are more interested in writing an Oliver/Katie fic. One where there not related of course.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! You guys will be glad to know that I'm going to keep updating this story.

Iluv-Siri-Boy: I'll tell you my secret to good grammar and editing-typing everything in Microsoft Word before putting it into the necessary format for 

To everyone else who reviewed: Thank you so much for telling me to keep this up! This chapter is dedicated to all of you who wanted me to keep writing.

And now I present to you Chapter 11, a lovely, touching scene with people eating dinner and discussing having children and various aspects of raising children and perhaps the twins trying to get Oliver to propose to Ginny on New Year's.

Ginny brushed the soot off her robes and set her trunk against a wall. Oliver did the same and then they went into the dining room. Ron looked up and said, "Oh good, you're here. I'm starving. I've been waiting for you three to get here for forever. Now we can eat."

"It's good to see you too, Ron," Ginny said slapping her brother. "I'm glad to know you missed me and that you value me more than food."

Ron shrugged. "It's not that; it's just I can't eat you when I'm hungry."

"Tell Callie that," Ginny joked. "She seems to be of the opinion that she can eat my fingers."

"How is my favorite sister's daughter?" Ron asked looking up at his niece for the first time. "Callie, do you want to see Uncle Ron?" he asked in completely different voice. Callie stretched out her pudgy little arms to him and he took her in his arms.

Ginny sat down in the empty chair next to Ron. "So, where's Parvati? I thought Mum said you were going to bring her with you tonight."

"We split," Ron said. "She was getting weird. I thought that this would be the relationship that would last but it just fell apart. Ginny, don't you know anyone you could set me up with?"

"I'll think about it and get back to you before New Year's," Ginny replied. "I'll definitely try to get you a date for New Year's."

Oliver sat down between Ginny and Alicia. Alicia smiled at him. "So, how is teaching going? Is it better than professional Quidditch?"

Oliver smiled and immediately Alicia knew he was happier now than he'd ever been playing Quidditch. "It's amazing. I always thought that Quidditch was the greatest thing on earth but I've discovered that there's something even better than Quidditch."

"It's a pity he couldn't have discovered this when we were at Hogwarts," Alicia whispered to George. Then she turned back to Oliver. "So, Arithmancy is that amazing?"

He shook his head with a smile. "Arithmancy and teaching are wonderful but it's Ginny who has made the past five months so wonderful for me. My sisters have caused so much trouble and Ginny's been the one sane person in the middle of all of that. My parents are ready to kill Beatrice and Helena but Ginny is just calm and normal and loving."

"What happened with Beatrice and Helena?" George asked.

"You haven't heard?" Ginny said, shocked.

George shook his head. Then Oliver said, "Beatrice was expelled from Hogwarts last night for cheating in five of her classes. And Helena announced a few weeks ago that she's pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's baby."

Alicia shook her head. "Your poor parents, and poor you, seriously, are you really sure you want to be teaching at the school that your sisters attend?"

Oliver shook his head. "It'll calm down after the holidays. Beatrice won't be back and Helena, well, I can deal with her. I know her so well and I'm used to dealing with her. Also, it's not really her that I'll have to deal with but rather her ex. He's a jerk."

"Who was she dating?" Alicia said. "Anyone I know?"

Oliver shook his head. "She dated half the Gryfinndor common room. The father is Ed Jacobs."

"Oh I remember his older sister," Alicia said. "She was a constant flirt. She was the only person I ever met who would flirt with George while I was sitting on his lip making out with him."

George looked at his wife. "She was flirting with me? I thought she had something wrong with her back."

Alicia laughed and kissed her husband's cheek. "I'm glad that you find me more attractive than her."

"Despite what the title of the muggle movie says, this gentleman prefers brunettes," George said.

"And this gentleman prefers redheads," Oliver said, kissing Ginny's cheek. "Redheads have so much spunk after all. Blondes are lovely people but I personally prefer this redhead."

Ginny smiled and kissed him. "I'm glad to hear that. I personally prefer men with brown hair. And this man I have here is wonderfully good-looking."

Oliver smiled. "Thank you, darling."

A few minutes later, Mrs. Weasley looked at her daughter and said, "So, how is Callie? You wrote me almost three months ago that she's crawling. Has she started to stand up yet? Is she teething yet? Is she walking yet?"

Ginny smiled at her mother's eager questions. "She's teething. I have to keep at least five teething rings around the rooms to keep her happy. She cries through the night otherwise. But she's getting better at sleeping through the night."

"That's good," Mrs. Weasley said. "But what about my other questions?"

"Oh," Ginny said with a smile of motherly pride. "She stood up for the first time three days ago. It was so cute. Oliver and I were sitting in my little living room talking and she was crawling around. Then she grabbed a firm hold on the couch leg and pulled herself up. It was so adorable."

Oliver nodded the affirmative. "It was wonderful. She pulled herself up and then looked around with a look that said aren't you both just so proud of me? Then she had a look like aren't I just the cutest baby ever born? It was so sweet."

"I think that I detect a hint of fatherly pride in Oliver's voice," Fred said with a smile. "I think that Oliver is just slightly enchanted with our delightful niece, Calandra Rose." Fred liked to call Callie by her full name when he was joking around. "Personally, I believe that Miss Virginia Kathryn and Mr. Oliver Thomas ought to marry. George, do you not agree with me on this subject?"

George stroked his chin thoughtfully and then said with a mischievous glint to his eye, "I agree with you most definitely. I think that Oliver Thomas ought to ask our delightful sister to marry him on the most wonderful and romantic night of New Year's Eve."

"That sounds absolutely marvelous to me," Fred said. "Oliver, what is your opinion on this absolutely delightful subject?"

Oliver looked at Ginny. She raised her eyebrows and smiled. Oliver turned to the twins and said, "I must speak with your delightful sister about this concept. I'm not quite certain that she is quite ready for marriage yet. Ginny, what do you think of your brothers' idea?"

Ginny sat thoughtfully for a few moments. Then she said, "I think that marriage is a decision we need to make on our own without the help of my esteemed brothers, Frederick and George."

Fred sighed. "Well, I hope you make it soon. I'm not getting any younger and I would like to live to see the day when I have nieces and nephews with the last name of Wood."

George nodded. "Just yesterday I thought I found a gray hair in this gorgeous mane of mine."

"I've found several recently on my head," Fred said.

Katie playfully slapped her husband. "Honestly, you're twenty-four years old. I personally know for a fact that every single strand of hair on your gorgeous head is red. Stop goofing around with your poor sister's life."

Alicia nodded. "George, I love you but Ginny is your only sister. You need to be nicer to her. She's an adult now and she can make her own decisions. She doesn't need you to run her life for her."

George moaned. "But I want to run her life. It's so much more fun that letting her live her own life. Honestly, she needs me to run her life for her."

"No she doesn't," Molly Weasley said. "Ginny is an adult and she doesn't need her brothers trying to run her life for her. She needs to live her own life. Let her grow up boys. All of you just let your sister grow up. Do it for me, please."

"Oh fine," the twins moaned in unison.

"Thank you," their mother said.

After dinner, Ginny and Oliver were in the living room playing with Ginny's fourteen nieces and nephews. George and Alicia were talking to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in kitchen, Fred and Katie were out taking a walk, Charlie and Maya were upstairs talking, Ron had gone over to the Potters', and Bill and Angelina had gone with Ron. This left Ginny and Oliver in charge of the children. Bill and Angelina's oldest son, Alex, ran to the window. "Auntie Ginny, Uncle Oliver, look it's snowing!"

Oliver followed the boy to the window. "It is. It looks like we may have a white Christmas after all."

"Really? Are we really going to have a white Christmas?" squealed Larissa, Maya and Charlie's five-year-old. "My mummy loves white Christmases. She says in Romania, where she grew up, they have white Christmas every single year. She'll be so happy if we have white Christmas this year."

"Well," Oliver said. "Your mum will be very happy because it looks like we're going to have a blizzard."

"We already are," Katie said bursting into the room. She and Fred had just come in. "It's beautiful out there but it's impossible to see two inches in front of your face. The snow is coming down like there's no tomorrow."

"There's no tomorrow, Auntie Katie?" Larissa said with a look of fear pervading her face. "Why isn't there going to be any tomorrow?"

Oliver picked up the little girl. "That's not what Aunt Katie said. She said it was snowing like there's no tomorrow but there is going to be a tomorrow. I promise you. You'll wake up tomorrow morning and tomorrow will be here."

"Okay," Larissa said reluctantly. She was still a little confused. "Uncle Oliver, are you going to marry Auntie Ginny? My daddy says you should and my mummy says she agrees but you should wait a little longer. Daddy says you two should get married now."

"Really?" Oliver asked, sitting down with the little girl in his lap. "Why do they think that?"

"Daddy says that you make Auntie Ginny happier than he's ever seen her. You make her complete."

"Really?" Oliver said thoughtfully.

"Really!" Larissa said with a smile. "I like you. You're the best uncle ever. You're not crazy like Uncle Fred and Uncle George, you're not weird like Uncle Percy, you're not always in love with weird ladies like Uncle Ron, you're not always busy like Uncle Bill, but you play with me all the time. I like you." She kissed his cheek and gave him a hug. "I would be very happy if you'd marry Auntie Ginny."

Oliver smiled. "Well, then when I ask her to marry me, you'll be among the first to know. But that day won't be for a while, probably not until the end of this school year."

"Cool!" Larissa said with a smile. She hopped out of his lap and ran over to Katie who was watching Maggie and Callie play on the floor. "Uncle Oliver says he's going to ask you to marry him at the end of the school year."

Ginny looked at Oliver and smiled. "Well, I love him very much and hope that he loves me in kind."

Oliver smiled and went over to her. Then he kissed her.

A/N: Okay, good stopping point. The next chapter is going to be Christmas Eve/Christmas morning with the Weasley clan. Please review.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I still don't own HP. Thanks so much to everyone who had reviewed. And a couple of people have asked about this, Callie is not and never will be Oliver's daughter. But again, thanks for reviewing. I hope you like this chapter and the romance will return.

On Christmas Eve morning, Oliver woke up to find Larissa and Alex in the living room sitting by the Christmas tree. "What are you two doing?"

"Nothing," Alex said as he ran over to the couch. "We weren't doing anything at all. Right, Larissa?"

Larissa nodded, trying to look innocent. "We haven't done a thing. We were just counting how many presents we each have under the tree. I have a lot and so does Alex."

Oliver nodded. "Okay, that's good. I was just making sure you two weren't opening your presents and then taping them shut again," he said as he picked up the magical tape dispense sitting next to Larissa. "I'll just go put this back in the kitchen before your grandmother finds out that it has gone missing."

Larissa hugged his leg and said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best person who ever lived!"

Oliver patted her head. "I wouldn't go that far, but you're welcome."

A few minutes later, Ginny came downstairs with Callie. When she found Oliver in the kitchen, she kissed him. "How's the most wonderful man in the world?" she asked.

"I don't know," Oliver said modestly and teasingly. "I'll let you know after I meet him."

Callie was fussing and Ginny put her on the ground. Callie stopped fussing and starting crawling around the floor, investigating everything. Oliver looked at Ginny. "We need to talk about something."

Ginny sat down at the table. "What?"

"You know how your brothers want me to propose on New Year's Eve?" Oliver said slowly. She nodded and he went on. "Well, I love you and I want to marry you but I'm not sure that now is a good time in my life to start planning a wedding and all that stuff. You know, with all the things going on in my family right now. I have to help my parents deal with Helena and Beatrice and I'm not sure that now is a good time to take on the responsibility of a family. I don't know that I could give you and Callie the time and attention you need. I want to but I don't know if now is the right time."

Ginny nodded. "I wasn't expecting you to propose to me on New Year's Eve. I know you're busy right now. Oliver, I love you but I'm not expecting to get married right away. I know that right now the most important thing for you is to make sure that your sisters are all right. I love you and I want to marry you but I'm willing to wait until you're ready to get married. I love you and I'll wait for you."

Oliver kissed her. "Thank you. I love you even more for that."

Then Callie clutched Oliver's leg and started pulling herself into a standing position. When she was standing up, she gurgled and looked up at Oliver and grinned. Then she said, "Dada, dada."

Ginny gasped. "Oh my gosh, my baby's talking! My baby's talking! She called Oliver 'dada'!"

Oliver scooped Callie up in his arms with a huge smile on his face. He kissed her forehead and she squealed, "Dada!"

Mrs. Weasley ran in. "Did she say what I think she said? Did she just call Oliver 'dada'?"

"She did," Ginny said, proudly. "My baby girl is talking."

"That's so wonderful!" Mrs. Weasley said. "Oh, Callie, I'm so proud of you."

Oliver looked at the little girl in his arms. "Do you hear that, Callie? Your grandmother is proud of you."

Callie smiled and grabbed Oliver's shirt. She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. "Dada," she said with a satisfied smile.

Ginny smiled and walked over to Oliver and Callie. She put her hand on her daughter's back. Callie looked at her mother and gurgled. Oliver smiled at Ginny as Mrs. Weasley said, "You three look like a family. It's so sweet."

Oliver smiled as Ginny laughed. Ginny looked at Oliver and Callie. Even though Callie didn't look much like Oliver, there was a kind of father-daughter chemistry there that seemed so thick you could cut it with a knife. It was so sweet, like her mother said.

Later that day, Oliver was sitting in his room looking at a picture of Ginny. She was wonderful. And Callie was such an amazing kid. She called him "dada." He was so happy. He knew Ginny was thrilled too. Callie thought that he was her daddy and as far as he was concerned it was going to stay that way. Callie was never going to know about Michael Corner until she had to. If that meant she never knew about him, so be it. Michael Corner didn't deserve Ginny and Callie. But then there were times when Oliver wasn't sure he deserved them either. Sometimes she seemed like she was too wonderful to be real. She was so sensitive, so understanding. She'd helped him deal with his problem-child sisters. She was so calm with Helena. Every time he wanted to kill her, Ginny would calm both of them down. She knew how to handle everything Helena was dealing with. Sometimes he found himself wondering if this was all a dream or if it was too good to be true. But it wasn't; it was all real, wonderfully real.

Ginny was sitting in the rocking chair in her bedroom with Callie in her lap. She looked at her little girl. "You really love Oliver don't you?" she said to the little girl.

"Dada," Callie replied. She smiled and repeated her word.

Ginny smiled. "Yeah, Oliver's a good guy. I love him and he loves me. Best of all he loves you, too. He really cares about both of us. How many single mothers get lucky enough to get an amazing guy who really loves them and their child who can live with the fact that the child isn't theirs? Trust me, kid; there aren't many guys like that out there. Callie girl, you and I are really lucky to have Oliver."

Callie gurgled.

Ginny smiled. "You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?"

"Ginny, she's really intelligent, but I don't think she understands this," a voice said from the doorway. Ginny looked up to see Charlie standing in the doorway. (BTW, I can't wait for Goblet of Fire so we can see Bill and Charlie in a movie.)

Charlie sat down next to his sister on the bed. "I'm really glad to see you with Oliver. He's a good guy and he really cares about you. I'm really happy to see you in a relationship like this. You've dated a few sleaze balls in your time and so I'm glad to see you with someone who really cares about you and who can give you what you deserve."

Ginny smiled. "He is a great guy, isn't he?"

"The absolute best you could find," Charlie confirmed. "You couldn't find a better guy anywhere. And best of all, we don't need to beat him up to make him behave himself around you."

Ginny looked at her older brother. "You wanted to beat up Colin?"

"Oh, yeah," Bill said from the doorway. He walked over and sat down on the other side of Ginny. "We wanted to kill him. He had no clue how to treat our little sister. You're a princess and he treated you like you were a scullery maid."

Ginny hugged him. "You're the best oldest brother a girl could ask for." She turned to Charlie. "And you're the best second oldest brother a girl could ask for."

"Well, you're the best little sister ever," Bill said. "I don't know what I'd do without my cute little sister. You always defend my hair to Mum."

"I love your hair. I don't see why Mum wants to cut it so badly." Bill still had long hair now that he was married with children. He was too fond of his hair to cut it.

"Mum wants to cut your hair because she thinks long hair makes you a punk or something," Charlie said.

Bill rolled his eyes. "I'm a thirty-four-year-old married man who has three children and she thinks I'm a punk. Do I look like a punk?"

Charlie shook his head. "No, you look like a banker. You look like a boring, old accountant."

"Thanks a whole heap," Bill said sarcastically.

That night all the children went to bed uncharacteristically early. Then all the adults helped stuff the stockings and finish putting the presents under the tree. After that was done, Ginny went out in the backyard to think for a little while. This Christmas was yet another Christmas without Percy. She couldn't understand him. His devotion to the Ministry was more important to him than his devotion to his family. She could understand that he felt that defending Penny was more important than defending his family but she had insulted the family. She walked down to the now frozen-over pond. She and Percy used to have their special talks here. She hadn't talked to him, really talked to him, in ages, not since the summer before her third year. She didn't know what was going on with him anymore. She used to be able to read his moods but now he was closed down like a locked house.

"You know, you shouldn't be out here by yourself when it's cold and dark," a masculine voice said from behind her. It sounded familiar but wasn't one of her brothers who were currently at home and it wasn't Oliver or Harry either. She turned around.

"Percy!" she gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Penny and I had a fight and I need a place to stay," he said slowly. "She kicked me out."

"Why, may I ask, did she kick you out?" Ginny demanded.

"She found me snogging with my secretary," Percy said, deliberately avoiding his sister's eyes. "It wasn't a big deal. I mean it's not like Penny and Cassie are the only women in my life. There are plenty of other women that I'm involved with."

"Percival Anthony Weasley!" Ginny shrieked. "That is disgusting and crude. You're not only cheating on your wife but you're cheating on her with several women. That is sick, wrong, and un-Weasley-like. You're a disgrace to this family. I'm going to tell Mum."

"You can't. You wouldn't. She'll kill me," Percy said, his thoughts disjointed.

"I can. I will. And yes, she will kill you," Ginny replied as she hurried off towards the house and Percy ran off towards the woods.

The next morning, Percy was sleeping on the couch when Ginny was dragged into the living room by her nieces and nephews. She was with her siblings and parents as well as Harry and Hermione. They had all woken up to Alex and Larissa running up and down the halls screaming. Arthur, John, and Nicholas had joined them a few minutes later. Then no one could sleep and they all headed downstairs to open presents.

"Percy!" Charlie yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"Penny kicked him out," Ginny said coldly as Percy woke up. "He was having an affair or twenty."

"What?" Mrs. Weasley gasped. "You've been fooling around on poor Penelope?"

"Mum, have you forgotten how that little bitch insulted our entire family back in August?" Charlie yelled. "She's an idiot and Percy would do well to get rid of her."

Immediately all the adults erupted into a storm of noise. For a good ten minutes they all yelled at each other and at Percy. Finally, Larissa screamed, "Be quiet! I want to open my presents. You're all ruining Christmas!"

All the adults stared at her. She went on. "I don't care what happened with Uncle Percy and Aunt Penny. I just want my Christmas presents. It's Christmas so stop yelling and let's open our presents."

"She's right," Ron said slowly.

"I'll only celebrate Christmas if Percy leaves," Mrs. Weasley said. "He's a skunk. I don't care if he's my son; I want him out of my house. He's being a horrible husband."

"Mum, I'm getting a divorce," Percy interrupted.

"I don't care," she said. "I want you to leave now."

"If that's what you want," Percy said as he left.

"Now let's have Christmas," Harry said. "There are some munchkins here who will be very unhappy if we don't."

"All right," Mrs. Weasley said. "Let's open presents."

"Yeah!" screamed all the grandchildren who could talk.

Ginny received many books and gift certificates from her family while Callie received toys, clothes, and teething rings. But it was Oliver's gift that really delighted Ginny. He gave her a photograph of Ginny and Callie that someone had taken when they hadn't been paying attention. It was beautiful, somewhat like a mother and child painting. Ginny gave Oliver a book about Arithmancy. It was a corny Christmas but it was fun and there was much smooching under the mistletoe.

A/N: Okay, that's done. Please review.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I don't own Harry Potter.

Okay, I'm going to answer some reviewers' questions but I don't remember who asked them so…

First off, as you will figure out about two minutes into this chapter, Oliver did not propose to Ginny on New Year's Eve. They discussed why a few chapters ago but to recap: Oliver felt that the situation with his sisters meant that now wasn't a good time to be getting ready to get married too.

Secondly, Katie and Fred are going to have a boy. I know that; they don't. He'll be named Joseph Michael.

Thirdly, Alicia and George are going to have a girl. They'll name her Emily Sophia.

Fourthly, if you have any questions, I didn't answer, put them in your next review and I'll do my best to answer them.

**TardyChick06**: Welcome back to my favorite reviewer! (The rest of you are awesome too, but TardyChick06 was a constant reviewer when I first started this fic and her reviews always made me want to keep writing.) I'm very sorry that you didn't like Percy in the last chapter but he needed to be like that to explain what's going to happen to him in this chapter.

**Lily Nicole Potter**: I'm not going to name one of the new Weasley grandchildren after you but that's only because I'm going to name Juliet Wood's best friend after you! You'll see her in like two seconds but she needs a last name. Any ideas?

**Short Babe:** Thanks for reviewing. It's reviews that make me come back. Please don't die. I'm glad you love the story.

**Hippy Girl:** I'm glad you like it. My muses returned, thankfully.

**Loving Ron:** I'm so glad you love this story. Thanks for reviewing.

**Son gomay vidal goku:** Thank you! I can't believe that this really is the best Ginny/Oliver fic you've ever read. I know Callie will be Oliver's stepdaughter when he and Ginny get married but she's not his biological daughter and she never will be. That's what I meant. Penny and Percy aren't going to really get divorced; I'll work on that in the next chapter. Oliver, Bill, Charlie, and the twins will smack them over the head with a few large, heavy objects and fix everything.

**Iluv-Siri-Boy:** One of my other favorite constant reviewers! My email isn't working right now otherwise I would email you about this story and the other one. I would like to know what all the baby names in _When You See a Guy…_ mean, if you want to find out you can, if not, I can do it.

And thanks to all my other reviewers! (If you want me to name a character after you, let me know! I'd be happy to do it.)

Oliver and Ginny went back to Hogwarts a week and a half after Christmas. Life was as crazy as ever. The first night that the students were back Juliet and Maria were in Ginny's office telling her about their Christmas with their grandparents. Juliet had brought her best friend, Nicole, with her. Nicole played Quidditch for Gryfinndor; she was a chaser. Her hero was Katie Bell who had been good enough to go pro but she had other ambitions in life.

"It was the worst Christmas ever," Juliet moaned. "Grandmother spent hours talking about the stupidest things. She spent an hour talking about why I should cut my hair. I don't get it; I love my hair. It's awesome." Juliet had waist-length golden blonde hair.

"You have gorgeous hair," Nicole said, reassuringly. "Everybody but your grandmother loves it."

"Nicole's right," Ginny said. "You have beautiful hair. Don't ever cut it."

"Thanks," Juliet said with a smile. "I'm glad someone likes my hair."

"Your hair is awesome," Maria said, stroking her sister's long hair. "I would love to have hair like yours. You have thick, glossy hair and my hair isn't nearly as beautiful as yours is. All three of you have prettier hair than I do." Maria had shoulder-length sandy blonde hair.

"You have pretty hair," Nicole said. "I know plenty of girls who would kill to have your hair."

"So do I," Juliet said. "Your hair is lovely."

"Grandmother certainly doesn't think so," Maria said sadly. "She told me that my hair was pitifully thin and excessively ugly."

"That's not true," Nicole said sympathetically. "Your hair is not pitifully thin. It's not as thick as Juliet's but it is lovely."

Maria ran her fingers through her hair. "You have wonderful hair," Ginny said with a smile.

"Mum says it'll be brown when I get older," Maria said.

"It probably will," Juliet said. "There's a rumor that Oliver had sandy blonde hair when he was born."

"He did," Ginny confirmed. "I've seen his baby pictures."

"I haven't," Maria said. "He took them out of the house when he moved out, eight years ago. He said they were too ugly to be seen by his poor, innocent younger sisters. I think he must have been a cute baby."

"Dee-dee-dee-dum," Ginny said twiddling her thumbs. "That's one way of saying it, I suppose. You do know his nose was broken when he was born."

"That's how you know he was meant to be a Quidditch player," Juliet said.

"I never know that!" Maria shrieked. "How did that happen?"

"He broke it on Mum's pelvis," Juliet said. "She told me about it once when I was talking about his nose being weird."

"That is so weird," Nicole said. "But Oliver is the type of person you would expect that to happen to."

"That's the sad part," Juliet said. "He's exactly whom that would happen to."

"I know," Nicole said, "Oh, hey, Ginny, who's watching Callie tonight?"

"Oliver," Ginny said. "He said he needed to have some bonding time with her."

"Did she really call him Dada?" Juliet asked excitedly.

"He did," Ginny confirmed with a smile. "It was so adorable; it happened on Christmas Eve morning."

"Were those her first words?" Nicole asked with intense interest.

"Yes," Ginny smiled.

"That's so awesome!" Juliet squealed.

"I can't believe it," Maria said. "Callie thinks my big brother is her daddy. Oliver is a daddy."

"He's not her biological father," Nicole reminded her.

"So what?" Maria replied. "Callie thinks he's her dad. When's the wedding?"

Ginny sighed and laughed. "It won't be any time soon; your brother hasn't even asked me yet."

"Aww," Maria moaned. "I was hoping you two would get married soon."

"So was I," Juliet said sadly.

"We will get married," Ginny said reassuringly. "But first your brother has to ask me to marry him."

"He'd better ask you soon," Juliet said.

"Yeah, while I'm still young," Maria added.

The next morning, classes resumed. After breakfast, Ginny had to run Callie to Oliver and then hurry back to her classroom. Her first class was crazy. The students just didn't understand the charm she was trying to teach them. Her second class of the morning was no better. By lunchtime, she was about ready to just go back to bed and try to start the day over. She had just had it with her students; she wanted to strangle some of them and murder some of the others. She sat down next to Oliver at the staff table and moaned. "Hard morning?" he asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe," she replied. "Callie didn't sleep much last night because she's teething, so I didn't get much sleep either."

Oliver nodded. "I understand. What classes do you have this afternoon?"

"Just fourth years," Ginny said. "It means your silly sister and her loony friend. At least that will keep things interesting."

Her boyfriend and colleague nodded. "Juliet seems to adore you. Every time she sees me she asks me when we're getting married. It's so sweet. She told me that she really wants me to marry you because she thinks that you'd be a great older sister. I told her that you'd be her sister-in-law and she looked at me and said, 'same difference, Ollie Boy, same difference, Ollie.' She really wants us to get married."

Ginny smiled and laughed. "So do I but I know you want to wait. Besides, it's the middle of the school year. I'm a little too busy to get engaged now."

Oliver just nodded.

That night, Oliver was sitting in his office when Juliet, Maria, and Nicole came in. "We have a proposal for you," Juliet announced. "Well, it's not so much a proposal as a suggestion, sort of. We have an idea that we think you should act upon."

Oliver looked at her. To say he was confused would be putting it mildly. What were his sisters and Nicole up to? Did he want to know? Finally, he slowly said, "Okay…and what's the idea?"

"Well, we think you'll like this," Nicole said. "We think it's a really good idea and we're pretty confident that you'll like it."

"It's an idea of extraordinary genius," Maria added. "I find it phenomenal, beautiful, and romantic."

"It is a plan of brilliance, inspiration, and delight," Juliet finished.

"All right," Oliver said. "This plan sounds pretty amazing. What is it?"

"We think that you should propose to Ginny on Valentine's Day," Juliet announced.

"I was actually thinking about that already," Oliver said. "I know I want to ask her to marry me that day but I quite haven't worked out what I'm going to do. It has to be entirely romantic."

"And involve Callie," Nicole pointed out. "You must involve her daughter to know that you really do care about her and that Callie is very important to you."

"Which she is presumably," Maria said. "I mean, you wouldn't spend that much time with her if you didn't like her."

"I love that little girl," Oliver sighed. "She's an angel. Before I met Ginny and Callie I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to get married and have children but now I'm certain that I want to get married and have many children."

"That's a good start," Juliet said. "You should definitely tell her that when you propose to her. It's so beautiful. If I'm ever a single mother, I want someone to say that to me."

"If you're ever a single mother, I'll call the man who made it so," Oliver retorted. "I swear it on the graves of all our dead relatives."

"He's violent," Nicole commented.

"It's only because I love them. I don't want any guy messing around with my sisters."

"Relax, I'd kill any guy who tried to mess with me," Maria stated. She always was somewhat of a tomboy.

Oliver smiled at his second youngest sister. "I'm sure you will, Maria, but back to your plan, ladies. How do you propose that I propose to Ginny?"

The three girls smiled mischievously. "Candlelight dinner is out if you have Callie there," Juliet began. "So, we decided that you should have a picnic dinner in a wide open field in Italy. We figured you could Apparate there and back. And also, everyone thinks that Italy is romantic."

"Then while you're having your picnic, you ask her to reach into the picnic basket and see if anything is left in it. The only thing that will be left there is the ring," Nicole said. "She'll pull out the ring and you'll ask her to marry you. She'll say yes and it'll be so beautiful."

Oliver smiled. "I like it. It sounds very romantic and very nice. I suppose you want me to bring Callie with us as well?"

"Yep," Nicole said. "That would be the key to having a picnic lunch. If you had a romantic candlelight dinner, you wouldn't be able to bring Callie. But a picnic is very baby friendly and that's exactly what you need. You need a baby friendly proposal."

"And we've provided you with a perfect one," Maria finished.

"It is a very good one; I'll admit that," Oliver told them. "I'm very impressed with it. You three have thought everything through and I'm very impressed. I have one question. Where is the food for this picnic going to come from?"

"You could ask the house elves in the kitchen to make it for you," Nicole offered. "I'm sure they'd be more than happy to do so."

"In fact, we know they would be," Juliet said. "We already asked them if they would."

"Well, girls, I must compliment you. You have thought up the perfect proposal. Tomorrow, I'll ask Ginny if she and Callie will join me for a picnic in Italy on Valentine's Day."

"Yeah!" Maria squealed. "I knew this was a good plan."

"I'm so glad I spent all this time coming up with it," Juliet said. "It is the perfect plan; she's bound to say yes."

"I'm so glad we told you about this, Professor Wood," Nicole said. "I'm so glad we could help you."

"Help him with what?" Ginny asked from the doorway where she had suddenly appeared.

"The girls have been helping me try to figure out what to get Callie for her birthday. However, we decided we want it to be a surprise for both of you," Oliver told her, walking over to her and kissing her.

"I just popped in to see if you knew when and where the next staff meeting is," Ginny told him.

"It's tomorrow at eight in the staff lounge."

"Thank you," she replied, kissing him. "Good night, Oliver. Good night, Juliet, Nicole, and Maria. I'll see you all in the morning."

"Good night," they all called after her.

After she was out of earshot, Juliet said, "You know, in a way it is a birthday present for Callie, an early present at least."

A/N: I'M BACK!!! It took me weeks and weeks to write this chapter. I'm so glad it's done. Please review and let me know how you liked it. Also, if you enjoy Katie Bell/Oliver Wood, check out my other HP fic When You See a Guy Reach For Stars in the Sky. I love everyone who reviews.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thank you to all of you who reviewed. You've all been amazing. I still don't own Harry Potter; we all know that by now. And now to respond to my reviewers…

**Lily Nicole Potter:** Let me know when you think of a last name. The idea of Marita's hair changing color came from my little sister was born with red hair. When she was two, it all fell out. When she was three it grew back blonde. Or one of my brothers was born a blonde and now he has black hair. (That one's actually freaky.)

**Atomic Elf:** Thanks for saying I'm talented. I really appreciate it. The Oliver/Callie relationship comes from watching my oldest brother and my two youngest sisters. See, Brian's old enough to be Marita and Sophia's dad, so he kind of acts like a dad to them. (Everyone should read her fic _Worth the Wait_.)

**Sarahamanda:** Thanks for always reviewing. I appreciate your support.

**AngelsCookieDough:** I'm glad my muses are back too. Thanks for following the story.

**Son gomay vidal goku:** The head bashing is coming. In fact, it starts as soon as the chapter does.

**Dark Zelda:** Hmm…Callie tries eating the ring? It's a possibility. I'll think about it and get back to you.

**Tardychick06:** I'm so sorry about your friend's brother. Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad to know this made you so happy.

**Iluv-Siri-Boy: **Hey, it took me a while to get back to the computer. My computer was in the shop too. Thanks for the help with the names. You're awesome.

Oh yeah, and I'm babysitting my little sisters and brother right now and they want me to tell y'all hello. Well, Clare, Colette, Marita, and Michael want to say hello. Charlie-the-Girl wants one of you to do her chemistry homework for her. (She's fifteen; I'm not babysitting her.) Sophia just gurgles.

A/N2: My updates will be sporadic for about six weeks because I'm student directing a performance of _You Can't Take it With You_ at my school that's running the weekend of Halloween. So, I'll try to update this and my other two stories as much as possible.

Oliver was sitting in his office when a knock sounded at the door. "Come in," he called distractedly. "The door's open."

The door opened and Penelope Clearwater-Weasley walked in. She was clutching her purse close to her stomach. "Hello, Oliver," she said softly. "I need to speak to you about something. It's very important."

"Sit down," he said gently. "How are you, Penny?"

"Lonely," she said sadly. "It's so lonely without Percy these days. I know he still loves me, but Oliver, everything's so confusing now. I found out I was three months pregnant and then I found out he was having an affair. I didn't know what to do, so I told him to leave. But I didn't want him to leave. I wanted him to stay and I love him, but he was dating other women. What could I do? I thought he loved me. What could I do, Oliver? I was madly in love with my husband and I was pregnant with his child! But he was having an affair! What on earth was I supposed to do?" Penny was sobbing. "What was I supposed to do? My husband was having an affair."

Oliver walked over to her and knelt down next to her chair. "I know, Penny. I know it's hard, but you've got to stick with it and fight for your marriage. Percy loves you; he's just a little messed up in the head. See, Pen, you're the only woman he's ever been with. And now he's working with all these beautiful women and it puts his head in a tizzy. He's a very confused young man."

"But does he really love me?" Penny moaned. "That's the real question. It's like you said. I'm the only woman he's ever dated. We were sixteen when we started dating. How do we know that we were really meant for each other? How do I know that he's really my soul mate? I'm pregnant with his baby but how do I know that I'm supposed to be married to him. Oliver, I love him but I don't trust him. So that leaves me with a question. When the trust in a relationship is dead, is love enough to stand on?"

Oliver could see the pain in her eyes as he replied, "I don't know. I'm sorry, Penny, but I just don't know. I think the person you really need to talk to about all of this is Percy. I know it's going to be hard for you but you need to do that, for both your sakes."

Penny nodded, tears still pouring down her cheeks. "I understand. Percy is the only person who knows what's going on inside his head, after all. I suppose I'll go to his flat and try to talk to him. Maybe it will help." She stood up and squeezed Oliver's hand. "Thanks for letting me talk to you. It really did help."

Oliver smiled sympathetically at her. _The poor girl,_ Oliver thought. _She's madly in love with a man who is confused about life and love._

While his wife was talking to Oliver, Percy Weasley was talking to his sister. "Ginny, I do love Penny," he moaned. "I love her so much that you'll never believe it. I love her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her but I screwed things up. I dated other women when I was married. Gin, I broke my wedding vows. I promised to be faithful to Penny until the day I die but instead I had relationships with other women. How can I ever make this up to her? I wrecked my marriage; how can I fix this? What can I do? Please, Ginny, you've got to help me."

Ginny looked at her brother sympathetically. "I wish I knew how to. But I don't. I'm sorry, Percy. I do know that you need to tell her the honest truth. You need to tell her everything, and when I say everything, I mean everything. You need to tell her how you feel inside and why you feel that way."

"But she won't understand, Gin," he whined.

"Percy, I know that in her heart, Penny loves you more than anything. She wants you back. She really does. But she wants to know the truth; she needs to know the truth and she needs to hear it from you. You need to go to her, on your knees, and beg her to take you back. She doesn't understand why you were snogging Cassie; for that matter, neither do I."

"Gin, we're getting divorced. I don't want it but that's the way it's going to happen. I love her but I fouled things up. There's no hope of saving them. We might as well end the marriage now while we can."

"You can't end the marriage now," Oliver said walking into Ginny's classroom. "Percy, Penny just came to see me. She's pregnant with your baby."

"What?" Percy's jaw fell to the floor. "How far along is she?"

"Well, she was three months pregnant when she found out you were cheating on her. That was a month ago, so she's four months pregnant," Oliver said calmly.

"I'm going to be a father," Percy whispered. "I'm going to be a father. I can't believe this. How could I have not known?"

"You were never there for her then," Ginny told him softly. "But you can start being there for her now. She needs you so much. Go to her, Percy. Talk to her."

"She's waiting for you," Oliver added. "She wants to talk to you. She wants to know why you did this. She wants to understand this. She wants you back. Percy, go to her. She loves you and she wants you back."

Percy nodded slowly. "Where is she?"

"She's at your flat, the flat the two of you lived in before you left her," Oliver told him sadly. "I told her to go to your flat to talk to you but she doesn't know where you live, so she just went home."

"I just can't believe this. I'm going to be a father," Percy muttered. "Are you sure you heard her right, Oliver?"

Oliver nodded. "Percy, fatherhood happens to the best of us. Look at Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George; they're all fathers and perfectly happy. I'm sort of a father and I'm happy. When you're married, you still have a life. When you have children, you still have a life. It's a different life but it's still a wonderful life. I'm not married to Ginny yet, but I love being with her and Callie. I wouldn't give it up for anything."

Percy nodded. "Well, if all that's true, then I need to go fight for my marriage. Both you, thanks."

"You're welcome," Oliver told his friend. "Good luck."

Ginny hugged her brother and kissed his cheek. "Penny loves you and you love her."

Percy ran up the steps to the flat he and Penny used to share. He was shaking with fear. What if Penny didn't take him back with wide-open arms? What if she had lied to Oliver and she didn't really want him back? He knocked on the door, fearful of how Penny would respond. The door opened. "Percy, whoa, I wasn't expecting to see you here," she said slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came from talking to Oliver and Ginny. They told me that I had to come after you. They told me that you loved me and that if I loved you, I would come talk to and try to explain things to you."

"Explain what, Percy? I found you snogging your secretary. That's pretty much self-explanatory. What else is there to say about it?"

"First off, I can say that I'm an idiot. Penny, I've loved you since we were in fifth year at Hogwarts. Cassie is just long legs and big boobs; you're an intelligent woman and someone with whom I can actually converse."

"But Cassie's prettier than I am?" she said harshly.

"No, I never said that and I never would. Penny, you're more than beautiful; you're breath taking. I don't know how a man could ever set eyes on you and not fall madly in love with you. You're the most beautiful woman in the world. Penelope Ariadne, I love you. You're my everything and without you, I'm nothing. It took almost getting divorced from you for me to realize that but this past month, I've realized that when I'm away from you, it's like I'm only half-alive. You're the reason I live. Cassie was a mistake that I could never, ever make up to you and I'm so sorry that I was ever involved with her."

"What about the other women?"

"What other women?"

"Oh don't look so shocked, Percival. Your mother told me what you told your family. There were other women besides Cassie. Are you done with them too? Are you ready to be completely devoted to me alone?"

"I'm sorry about the other women. Really, I am. Penny, I'm done with that. I'm so sorry about that you can't even believe it. I do love you. I am ready to be completely devoted to you. I'm ready to be a husband. I'm ready to be a father."

"So Oliver told you?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes, and I must say I'm shocked. I thought you didn't want to have any kids."

"I didn't until that night at your parents' house. I realized how happy Ginny is with Callie and how happy Katie, Angelina, and Alicia are with their broods. Your brothers have these large families and they're so happy. Your brothers' wives are so happy. Ginny's so happy with just Callie. I decided that night that if children really did make you that happy, then I wanted children."

Percy stared at her in shock. "I never realized how happy my brothers were. I just saw how busy they are. They all have jobs that keep them very busy and then they have children and wives. They're always doing something. They never have time for themselves. And I enjoy the alone time we have together."

"And we'd still be able to have it," Penny said. "There wouldn't be as much of it, but it'd still be there. If we love each other, we can make time for each other."

Percy nodded. "So, can I come in?"

Penny shrugged. "I guess so. We'll have to take things slowly but I do have a doctor's appointment tomorrow that I want you to come to. I need you with me. It's when I find out the sex of the baby."

"I'll come," Percy said quickly.

Penny smiled. Maybe things would work out.

Two days later, Oliver walked into Ginny's office. "What are you doing on Valentine's Day?" he asked, sitting on the edge of her desk.

"I don't know. I hadn't thought that far ahead yet. I figured I'd probably spend it with you and Callie but beyond that, I don't have any plans."

"How does this sound? You and Callie join me for a picnic in Italy. My uncle has a villa in Tuscany that he said we could Floo to for the afternoon, if you were interested. It's a very romantic place."

Ginny smiled. "It's sounds beautiful. Let me ask Callie." She picked up the baby who was crawling around on the floor. "Callie, would you like to go to Italy with Uncle Oliver and me?"

"Dada!" Callie squealed pointing at Oliver. "Dada!"

"That means yes," Ginny explained. "Count us in. What time are we leaving and how should we dress? And who is taking care of the food?"

"I'm in charge of comestibles. I'll meet you two here at two o'clock with Floo Powder and the picnic basket. And clothes? Dress nicely but casually. And remember, it's warmer in Italy than it is here."

"Will do," Ginny replied. "I'm already looking forward to it. A picnic in Italy, that sounds lovely."

Oliver smiled. "It does. Well, we still have a month until Valentine's Day, unfortunately." He sighed. Then he remembered something. "Have you heard anything from Percy or Penny?"

"Penny sent me an owl last evening. They've reconciled; they're not going to get divorced after all. And she went to the doctor yesterday. She's having a baby boy; they're both thrilled about it."

"Both of them?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, Percy went with her to the doctor. He's decided to get on board with this pregnancy. He says he wants to support her 110 because he wants her back and this is the only way it will happen."

"I think he needs to talk to Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George about fatherhood before he throws himself into this full throttle. I think he needs to understand the commitment he's making and what it means for his relationship with Penny. I can try to tell him about it all I want but until he hears what it was like for Bill when Alex was born, or for Charlie when Larissa was born, or for Fred when Arthur was born, or for George when his oldest was born."

Ginny nodded. "I remember it was a difficult transition for Bill when Alex was born. I think Fred had trouble adjusting after Arthur was born. It's a difficult transition to make. They were used to having their wives to themselves and suddenly these little people who were utterly dependent on them were in their lives, in their homes. It's a big change. In some ways, you'll have it easy when our first child is born because you've already been around me with Callie."

"But I've still never had a newborn baby come into my life," Oliver pointed out.

"Talk to me about that on our wedding night," Ginny whispered suggestively. "I think I can fix that for you."

Then they kissed.

A/N: So, more development and improvement in the Percy/Penny relationship WITH a visit from Ginny's family, actually, a visit TO her family. Please review! I'll try to review but I'm writing three stories, going to school (and taking some really hard classes), student directing a play, helping take care of my siblings, babysitting my neighbors, AND learning to walk in my shoes for my school's Homecoming dress.

A/N2: In the last chapter when Ollie said, "If you're ever a single mother, I'll call the man who made it so," it was supposed to say, "If you're ever a single mother, I'll kill the man who made it so."

A/N3: So I'll update ASAP. Please review!


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: And here it is: another chapter of _I Think We're Alone Now_ by Lia06! I still don't own Harry Potter but I got over that. Aren't you happy for me? Now here's a real reason you should be happy for me. Right now, I'm at my sister and brother-in-law's house. My sister, Charlotte, and I are supposed to be cleaning the house but we're not. Charlie's out running and I'm writing this for you guys. Now you might ask why I'm cleaning my sister's house. I will answer that for you. My sister had a baby on Friday and she's coming home today; so is the baby. Yes, I have a nephew, an adorable little guy with hazel eyes and brown hair, named James Andrew. Now, to my reviewers:

**Lost Angel92:** Welcome to my story! Thanks for reviewing! I hope you keep reading.

**Dark Zelda:** Ah, one of my most consistent reviewers! I'm so glad you like that line. I wrote it because whenever I tell my guy friends that I want to have kids, my friend John looks at me and says, "Talk to your husband about that on your wedding night."

**Riley:** I'm so happy that this is one of your favorite stories! That always makes me happy when people tell me that they like my stories. I hope you like this chapter! I agree: Oliver is the best.

**TardyChick06:** I'm so glad you liked this chapter. Is this soon enough of an update? I'm praying for you guys.

**Atomic Elf:** I love your story! It's so cool. I just had to mention it. Thanks for understanding that I'm up to my neck in being busy. (Thankfully, my sister doesn't have me pegged as a future babysitter.) I think I will read some of your other stories, when I have time of course.

**Lily Nicole Potter:** Nicole "Nikki" Green it is, then. I'm so happy you loved this chapter. I loved it to, I must admit.

**Sarahamanda:** Thanks for reviewing!

**Son gomay vidal goku:** I'm so happy they're back together too. They're having a boy, a nice little boy who will have red hair and green eyes and be named something nice but not James Andrew

**To everyone:** In case you guys can't tell, I'm absolutely nuts about my nephew. I know I have an eight-month-old baby sister at home but James is so sweet. My little brother is almost three, so Sophia needs another baby to compete with her for cuteness.

And on with the story if I haven't bored you all to death and scared you all away with my ramblings…

The next Saturday, Oliver, Ginny, and Callie had to go to the Weasley home for a family dinner. Normally, Hogwarts staff didn't leave the area during weekends but this was a special emergency. Percy and Penny were going to the Weasley home to announce their reconciliation and Penny's pregnancy. Penny had told Ginny that it was important she and Oliver were there when Penny and Percy announced that she was pregnant. "I'm scared of how they'll react," she had written. "What if they accuse me of having an affair?"

"It's Percy who had an affair, not her," Oliver had remarked when he read the letter. "Everyone in the family knows that. She shouldn't worry about that. Your mother is sympathetic to her. And everyone else is so mad at Percy that they'll have to be nice to her. I mean, Katie said that Fred wants to kill him for what he's put your mother through."

Ginny had just nodded. Her father and brothers were really mad at Percy. They had told her that they were through with his little act. They were sick of him leaving the family and coming back over and over again. "He can't keep doing this to Mum," Charlie had written to Ginny. "He just can't keep toying with her emotions. She loves him but he keeps leaving the family. Honestly, I don't know why Mum and Dad don't just give up and disown him."

When Oliver, Ginny, and Callie arrived at the Weasley home that Saturday, some of her brothers were there; others weren't. Fred, a very pregnant Katie, and their three munchkins were there. Ron was there, as were Harry, Hermione, Lily, James, and Sirius. George and Alicia were there with John, Michael (I think that's his name), Rebecca, and Elizabeth. Charlie and Maya were going to be there soon as were Bill and Angelina. Percy and Penny were sitting by themselves, apart from everyone else, like they were unsure whether or not they were in the right place.

When Oliver and Ginny walked in, Katie waddled over to them. And waddled was the only word to describe the way the seven months pregnant with a boy woman was walking. "Ginny, you've got to do something to help. Your brothers and your father are treating Percy like he's the plague. Your mother is hiding in the kitchen because she's not sure whether she's supposed to be glad that they're back or not. The tension in this house is so thick you can almost see it and I'm positive you could cut it with a knife."

Ginny hugged her sister-in-law. "I'll see what I can do. How are Harry and Hermione doing with it? Are they helping at all?"

"Actually, they are," Katie nodded. "They took the children into another room to quiet things down a bit. Or maybe it was to keep the younger children from finding out how insane this family really is."

Ginny smiled. "I think I'll take Callie to them and then help you and Alicia with the children. I might have some ideas as to how to deal with everyone. By the way, where are Harry and Hermione?"

"They're in the room off the kitchen. I hope your ideas will work; someone has to do something to fix everything that Percy has messed up in this family."

Ginny just nodded as she took her daughter to the Potters. She knew only too well how much Percy had destroyed in their family. He had publicly told people that his father was insane. Some days, Ginny found herself wishing that there had only been six children in the Weasley family: Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, and her. Why did Percy have to be a pompous jerk all the time?

"Are you all right, Ginny?" Hermione Granger-Potter asked as Ginny walked into the room, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What?" Ginny asked, looking around.

"Are you all right, Ginny? You seem a little distracted," Hermione told her.

"Just frustrated with Percy," she sighed. "He's destroying this family. He doesn't even see it but he is. He's ripping Mum's heart to shreds and he doesn't see what his actions do to her. He's ruining Mum and Dad's marriage. I can't stand watching him come and go as he pleases in his relationship with Mum and Dad. None of us children were ever particularly close to him but it still hurts when he leaves the family because he's more interested in other things."

Percy Weasley heard his sister talking to Hermione. The words "He's destroying this family. He's doesn't even see it but he is" rung in his ears. Was it true? Was he ripping his family apart? Was he ruining his parents' marriage? He'd never noticed that their marriage was any different now than it had been when he was living at home but that was what Ginny had said about him. "He doesn't see it."

He went into the living room where Fred and Oliver were playing Exploding Snap and Penny was reading a book. He looked pointedly at his brother and his friend. "Are Mum and Dad having problems with their marriage?"

Oliver stared at him and Fred rolled his eyes. "You're joking, right?" Fred asked. "Since Christmas, they've stopped sleeping in the same bedroom. They barely speak to each other. You'd never know they were married except they live in the same house. And you want to know how they got to be that way? Because they fight every day, they fight about you. Dad wants to disinherit you; Mum wants to give you another chance."

"So they're thinking about divorcing?" Percy asked, suddenly concern filling his soul.

Oliver nodded sadly. "Your mother has the papers in her dresser, all filled out. All she has to do is file them if things go from bad to worse."

"And I'm the reason they're falling apart?" Percy asked hesitantly, not sure he wanted to hear the answer. He knew the answer would be painful.

"Yes," Fred said coldly. "You're the reason this family is falling apart."

"The family is falling apart?" Percy was dumbfounded. (A/N: I've never understood that word.) "What on earth do you mean? How is the family falling apart?"

"Some of us are siding with Mum, some with Dad, and Ron's in the middle."

"Who is with Mum?" Percy wanted to know who his "allies" were.

"Charlie and George," Fred reported. "Bill, Ginny, and I are on Dad's side."

"And Charlie and George are with your mum not because they support you but because they support Penny," Oliver added. "They want to help her. Ginny wants to help her too, but she's so pissed at you…" his voice just trailed off.

Percy found himself just staring at his brother and his sister's boyfriend. His family was falling apart because he had spent all his life taking it for granted that they would always be there for him. He loved his family but he had spent his life taking them for granted. But he was starting to find out that if you wanted people to be there for you, then you had to be there for them. He hadn't been there for them when Ginny had been raped. When his wife had insulted his family, he hadn't backed them up; he'd backed her up. This was seriously starting to screw his life up. He was losing his friends and family because he'd always been in search of power and escaping his family's "weirdness." But now he saw that it wasn't they who were weird but rather everyone else. If they were insane, then the rest of the world was truly mad.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come back at Christmastime," Percy whispered. "Maybe I should have just stayed away from the family and then Mum and Dad wouldn't be falling apart. I wish I wasn't causing everyone so much trouble. I wish I wasn't screwing up my family. Oliver, how can I fix everything I've done?"

"Once an action has been done, undone it cannot be," Ginny said from the doorway. "Once a wound has been inflicted, it may heal but will always leave a scar. Once a word has been spoken, you can never take it back."

Percy looked at his sister in the doorway acting like Professor Trelawney. Oliver shrugged and clapped Percy on the shoulder. "She's right, you know. You can't completely take away what you did to your family. You can apologize but things will never be quite the same."

"Tell me what to do," Percy pleaded. "Tell me how I can help my family. They've helped me with everything and I've never helped them with anything. They've always been there waiting in the wings for me; maybe it's time I was there for them."

"You're damn right it's time you were here for your family," Fred stated coldly. "You want to know how to make things better? Start by apologizing to Mum and Dad for leaving the family when Mum and Dad believed Voldemort was back but you didn't because the people with power didn't believe Voldemort was back. Apologize for all the times you insulted the family."

"Apologize," Ginny cut in. "Apologize for making Mum cry herself to sleep at nights because her son hated her. Apologize for making Dad wonder if you were dead. Apologize for only acknowledging us 'morons and blundering fools' when it suited you or was advantageous to your career. Stop making stupid mistakes, Percy! Apologize for everything you did wrong and promise that you'll try harder. That's what Mum and Dad need. They need their whole family united in love. You have to stick with the family in good and bad if you want to help Mum and Dad."

Percy looked at his brother and sister. What they were asking was going to be hard for him. He'd always put his career first, Penny second, and the Weasley clan third. "I don't know if I can do that," he mumbled.

"You don't know if you can do what?" Bill barked fiercely. Percy noticed that his two older brothers were also in the room, their wives and children with them. "You don't know if you can be a part of this family? Is that it?"

Percy saw fire in Bill's eyes, the same fire that was fiercely burning in the eyes of every other person over the age of twenty in the room except his wife. "I don't know. I just don't know anymore. I just want to get back into this family."

Six long hours later, the Weasley siblings emerged from a meeting with Percy. They had laid down the rules for "readmittance" to the family. He had to go through "trials" and "experiments" and he feared that most of those would come from the minds of Fred and George. It might take him years to be fully a member of the family again but it was better than life without them.

Of course, little did he know that Bill and Charlie planned to hit him over the dead with a two by four, as one of the trials.

A/N: Okay, this took me exactly a week to write. My nephew is nine days old now. Please review! I know there wasn't much Oliver/Ginny action but there'll be more in the next chapter. I also know this isn't as long as normal but that's purely because I just wanted to get this one up for you guys. Now I'm off to watch _To Catch a Thief_ with my sisters and sister-in-law.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: You know the drill. I still don't own Harry Potter. And thank you to everyone who reviewed.

**Atomic Elf, Tardychick06** and **Lily Nicole Potter:** I actually have two nieces as well as my nephew, but James is my first nephew. Plus, Julia and Natalie are my brothers' kids and he lives like four hours away; my sister lives ten minutes away. The only reason I have nieces and a nephew when I'm sixteen is my older sister is twenty-five and my oldest brother is twenty-six. (But they are my full sibs; my parents just took a seven-year break between Heidi and the twins. They said it was the whole "let's finish college" thing.) And thanks for the congratulations!

**Iluv-Siri-Boy:** The hitting Percy on the head thing started out as a joke with a reviewer, I can't remember who it was or find the reviews about it but we had this joke for a while. So, now, I'm actually putting it in the story. But never fear! Percy will survive the ordeal. (And it will be an ordeal to remember.) But it won't come until the next chapter. This chapter is devoted to The Proposal.

**Lost Angel92:** I like your thinking. Bad things will happen, caused by his brothers, of course.

**Atomic Elf:** Ha! You get TWO notes. Aren't you lucky? I want to make it hard for Percy because I remember in Order of the Phoenix how hard Percy abandoning the family was for Mrs. Weasley. I thought he needed to suffer for it.

**Lily Nicole Potter:** I completely understand about loving your weird family. My family is psycho. My younger sister (or my Irish twin) walked into our room one day and asked me what my favorite weather pattern is. Nikki is a good nickname but if you want another one, that'd be good too. It's up to you.

**Sarahamanda:** Thanks for reviewing every chapter.

**Son gomay vidal goku:** Yeah, I'm looking forward to having Bill and Charlie beat Percy over the head. That's going to be fun to write. Alicia's having a girl, Emily Sophia. (We'll ignore the fact that my baby sister is Sophia Emily.)

**Tardychick06:** Yeah, I'm not expecting my 18-year-old brothers to give me nieces or nephews anytime soon.

The reason this is coming up so fast is that I don't have school for three Fridays in a row. Then we have opening night for _You Can't Take It With You_ and then we have another Friday off, then two Fridays with school, then Thanksgiving and our Class Rings! (The Class of 06 at my school is getting our class rings the day before Thanksgiving. I'm SO psyched! My ring is bee-yoo-tee-ful!)

The night before Valentine's Day, Nikki, Juliet, and Maria sauntered into Oliver's office. "We need to do a final check-up on you," Nikki announced. "We're making sure you're ready for tomorrow."

"We've prepared a checklist and everything," Maria added. "Are you ready for this, Ollie?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm ready." His sisters and Nikki were being weird. That was all he could think.

Juliet pulled a piece of parchment out of her pocket and cleared her throat. Then she put on a pair of spectacles. Oliver really didn't want to know where those had come from or what they used to be. "Ahem!" she coughed. "This is the official Oliver Thomas Wood proposing to Virginia Kathryn Weasley checklist compiled and composed by Maria Elizabeth Wood, Nicole Lily Green, and yours truly, Juliet Adriana Wood. Number one, do you have the ring?"

Oliver nodded and reached into his pocket. "Right here," he showed them the ring.

"It's a very nice ring," Maria remarked. "I love the diamonds." It was a white gold band with a larger diamond surrounded by eight smaller diamonds.

"It is a beautiful ring," Juliet commented. "All right, all systems are go on the ring. Next question, do you have everything taken care of with the lunch?"

"Yes, I've arranged everything with Harry's friend, Dobby. It's all taken care of. He'll bring the picnic basket here at eleven-thirty. Ginny and Callie will be here at eleven forty-five. Then we'll leave for Italy."

"All right," Juliet said making marks on her list. "That takes care of number two, three, and seven."

"How many questions are on this list?" Oliver asked. "How long is this going to take?"

"Oh, there's fifty questions," Maria said. "We should be done by curfew. But we brought an invisibility cloak in case we need it."

"As a teacher, I must insist that you're back in your dormitory by ten o'clock curfew. I can't bend the rules for you girls just because Maria and Juliet are my sisters. These are the rules and as a professor, I must abide by them."

"I told you he was the goody-two-shoes of the family," Juliet whispered to Maria. "I told you we couldn't rely on him for anything."

"That's right, kids, you're on your own for this one," Oliver told them seriously. "What's number four on this list of yours?"

"Do you have your clothes picked out?" Juliet asked, chewing on her quill. Oliver concluded it must have been a Sugar Quill. "Are you planning on wearing a nice outfit or do we have to pick it out for you?"

"Juliet," Oliver sighed. "I haven't even thought about what I'm going to wearing tomorrow. Let me guess, number five isn't a question but rather your plan for my outfit."

Juliet shrugged. "Guilty as charged. But in my defense, we have the perfect outfit for you."

Nikki nodded. "You'll be totally hot. Ginny will totally dig you."

"And what, pray tell, is this outfit?"

"Your dark blue jeans that we brought you from America last summer, your light blue t-shirt, and your black oxford shirt that Dad brought you from Paris last summer, that would be the perfect outfit. Oh yeah, and white socks and sneakers would be good with it," Maria recited.

"All right, I'll wear that," he moaned. "I've got this all taken care of. It'll be fine. Ginny loves me; she'll say yes. You three are going to be bed or I'm giving you all detention."

Maria moaned. "But we had so many other things on the list we needed to talk about with you. We were going to talk about when exactly during the meal you were going to ask her."

"I know what I'm doing here!" Oliver almost yelled. "I've been running through this in my head every day for over a month. I know how I want to ask her and what I want to say. I'm not sure you understand what Ginny means to me. I love her. She and Callie are my entire world now. The day she walked into my life changed everything. I was planning on remaining a confirmed bachelor for the rest of my life. I wasn't planning on a wife and children. I have a godson; that was enough for me. But then this amazing woman with a baby came into my life. Suddenly, I wanted to get married and have children with her. Ginny walked into my life and I fell in love. Maria, Juliet, Nikki, I am madly in love with Ginny and I can't imagine my life without her. I need her like I need air to breathe; she is the air I breathe."

Nikki gasped. "Wow. You really are gone for her. I can't believe it."

Juliet hugged. "My big brother's getting married!"

At ten-forty the next morning, Juliet, Maria, and Nikki walked into Oliver's office. He was wearing his blue jeans, the blue t-shirt, and the black shirt. "Looking sharp," Nikki whistled.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Thank you. I'm glad you think so. But right now I'm more worried about how Ginny thinks I look."

"She'll love you," Maria assured him. "Don't worry about it. We're just here to check on you. Now we'll scram."

Oliver smiled. "I love you kids but thank you. This is a big day for me and I need some time by myself to get ready."

Twenty minutes later, Ginny walked into his office carrying Callie in her arms. Ginny was wearing a black skirt made of some kind of material that seemed like satin and a light blue off the shoulder top made of the same material. Her auburn hair was hung loose to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Callie was wearing a forest green dress that was so adorable on her. Her strawberry blonde hair was pinned back in a black barrette on one side. Oliver sighed. "Ginny, she's so sweet."

"What about me?" she teased. "Aren't I sweet too?"

"No, Ginny, you're the most beautiful woman in the world. There's no one else like you. You're everything to me, everything. Without you, I'm nothing."

Ginny looked at him. "Oliver, I love you too." Then she smiled. "I don't mean to be rude but are we going to Italy now?"

Oliver smiled. "You could never be rude to me. And yes, we're leaving now. We're taking the Floo Network to my uncle Ricardo's house. Then we'll go to the place where we're having the picnic from there." Oliver had already been to the Tuscan villa to drop off the picnic basket.

"That sounds lovely," Ginny sighed. "Shall we be on our way?"

Oliver nodded. "Certainly." He offered her his arm and grabbed some Floo powder with his free arm. They walked into the fireplace. "_La Casa __di __Pazienza_!" Oliver called.

Four minutes later, they were in the dining room of Ricardo Eusani's villa about ten minutes outside of Florence. "How are you related to this man?" Ginny asked.

Oliver smiled. "My mother is from Italy. She married my father and moved to Scotland. Let me tell you. Moving to Glasgow from Florence was a huge culture shock for Mum. But then how did you think my sisters got their names?"

"I thought they were named after the women in Shakespeare's plays."

"They are," Oliver said. "But some of their names are also Italian. My aunt and uncle to meet you before we go have our picnic." Oliver led Ginny into the living room of the house where Ricardo and Josephine Eusani were waiting to meet their nephew's girlfriend and her daughter. They were in their mid-fifties and neither of them was very tall. They both had dark brown hair and olive skin. "Ginny, this is my uncle, Ricardo Eusani and my aunt, Josephine. Uncle Richard, Aunt Josie, this is my girlfriend, Ginny Weasley and her daughter, Callie."

Ginny smiled shyly. She knew Oliver's parents and sisters, but these were the first of Oliver's relatives that she had met outside of his immediate family. How would they feel about her? How much did they know about Callie? How would they feel about Callie? She wanted them to like her so much.

To Ginny's immense relief and delight, his aunt came over to her and hugged. Then she kissed her on both cheeks. "I've heard so much about you from Maria and Juliet," she spoke with a heavy Italian accent. "I'm so glad that Oliviero has found such a wonderful woman to share his life with. This is _magnificenza_! Oh, Oliviero, she is so beautiful."

Ginny smiled, relieved. "It's nice to meet you, _Signora_ Eusani."

"Ah, _por __favore_, call me Aunt Josie. Everyone calls me that." She was such a sweet lady.

Oliver smiled. "_Zia_, I hate to interrupt, but Ginny and I are planning a picnic lunch together. So, I was thinking we should go off to it. We'll be back here around three."

"You will stay for dinner?" Josie asked.

"Only if you're cooking," Oliver replied. To Ginny, he said, "_Zia_ Josie is a wonderful cook. She makes the best pasta in all Italy."

"Ah, Oliviero, you flatter me!" his aunt cried modestly.

Twenty minutes later, Oliver and Ginny were sitting on a sunny hilltop with a picnic basket and Callie. Oliver was unpacking the picnic basket. "I had Dobby cook for us," he told her with a smile. "I hope you like it."

"What did he make us?" Ginny asked, as she held her daughter in her arms.

Oliver picked up the packages of food. "Roast beef, two green vegetables, a doily to put the main dishes on top of, and currant juice. And there's some kind of desert but I'm not sure what it is. He told me to leave it in the basket until we were ready to eat it."

"What are the two green vegetables?"

"Peas and broccoli," Oliver told her. "He also made some food for Callie. It's roast beef mixed with mashed potatoes."

(A/N: Roast beef, two green vegetables, and doilies is a line from _You Can't Take It With You_, the play I'm currently student directing.)

"Sounds good," Ginny replied.

When they were done eating, Oliver looked at Ginny. "Ginny, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you. You and Callie are my entire world now. The day you walked into my life changed everything. I was planning on remaining a confirmed bachelor for the rest of my life. I wasn't planning on a wife and children. I have a godson; that was enough for me. But then this amazing woman with a baby came into my life. Suddenly, I wanted to get married and have children with her, with you. Ginny, you walked into my life and I fell in love. Darling, I am madly in love with you and I can't imagine my life without you and Callie. I need you like I need air to breathe; you are the air I breathe. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and Callie." He reached into the picnic basket and took the ring out of it. Virginia Kathryn, will you marry me? Will you and Callie let me become a part of your family?"

Ginny stared at him in shock and disbelief. She gasped. Then she smiled. "Yes, Oliver, I will marry you. Callie and I would be ecstatic to let you become a party of our family."

Then they kissed. When they pulled apart, Oliver slipped The Ring on his fiancée's finger. Ginny held her hand up and looked at the ring. "It's beautiful! I love it so much. Where on earth did you find such a beautiful ring?"

"It was my grandmother's wedding ring," Oliver told her with a smile. Then he kissed Callie's forehead. "And I have something for this little princess too." He reached into the basket again and took out a wrapped package the size of a breadbox. "Callie, this is for you," he said as he handed it to Ginny.

She handed him Callie and opened the present. It was a small wooden chest with _Calandra Rose_ carved into the lid. "It's beautiful," Ginny whispered as she stroked the lid. It was made of a deep cherry wood.

"Open it," Oliver commanded as he played with Callie's fists. "There's something more in there for her."

Ginny opened the lid and gasped. She lifted out a soft pale pink chenille blanket. "It's so beautiful!" she whispered. "Thank you." She put her hand back in the chest and took out a necklace. It was two silver strands joined at the clasp with diamonds inlaid in both of them.

"I know it's too grownup for her and too big for her now, but it was my great-grandmother's. She gave it to me when she died and made me promise I would give it to my first daughter," Oliver was speaking softly.

"It's so beautiful." She kissed his cheek. "Thank for doing all of this for us."

"I love you both so much. I had to show you some how."

A/N: Well, that's that! I hope you liked it! Please review. For all you who have been reading _When You See a Guy Reach for Stars in the Sky_ I'm still trying to figure out what to name the baby. Once I figure that out, I'll write the next chapter of that.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Well, I still don't own Harry Potter. I don't even own my family's copies of the first four books; those are my older brothers'. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. (And there were a lot of you-twelve in all.) I'm really sorry it so long to update! But the first step of the Percy Challenges is in this chapter!

**Outlawed-little-angel:** Well, I'm glad you liked it! I wanted to update sooner, but I've been VERY busy. I spent most of the past week writing a paper about how genetic characteristics of fruit flies are passed on. (Love the name!)

**Webster:** I'm so glad you love the story. I'm glad he proposed too. Yeah, it is the perfect proposal; I wish someone would take ME to Italy to propose to me. (I'm actually half-Italian so that would be really awesome.) I'm so glad you found the story and that you love it.

**Lily Nicole Potter:** Ah yes! My favorite original character besides Callie reviews! I'm looking forward to the wedding too. I put in the checklist because I thought you guys would love it. You're awesome too!

**Iluv-Siri-Boy:** I didn't know that. Thanks for telling me. I'll utilize that from now on.

**Hippygirl:** Yes ma'am! (I like the name.)

**Ayumi-dono:** No, this isn't the last chapter. They have to tell their families, plan the wedding, and then get married. And after that, there will probably be a sequel.

**Tardychick06:** Yes, proposing with Callie and proposing in Italy; that was wonderful. I want the guy I marry to ask me to marry him in Italy. (Oh wait, I said that before. Well, who cares?)

**Atomic Elf:** Yes, you got two author's notes; this time you only get one. Thanks for reviewing every chapter.

**Lostangel92:** So glad you liked the chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

**Son gomay vidal goku:** Well, here's the more you wanted!

**Kimi:** Well, the other story is done. Yeah, I had fun writing that proposal.

**Sarahamanda:** I updated as fast as my insane life allowed.

Oliver looked at Ginny as they sat in his office. "I suppose we have to tell our families about this. I think they'd want to know."

"I know Fred and George will be thrilled to hear about it," Ginny replied. "They write me about once or twice a week to ask me if you've asked me to marry you; they want you to be their brother-in-law for some reason. I'm not sure why, but they do."

Oliver smiled. "I'm not sure I want to know why. I'll stick to they're my friends and I've always been like a brother to them and they want to make it official."

Ginny smiled. "Yeah, I'd stick to that. It's much better than whatever their real motives are. But on the plus side, Ron, Bill, Charlie, and Harry all really like you; that must count for something."

Her fiancée looked at her. She looked stunning; she'd changed into a pair of jeans and a black v-neck top, an outfit that showed off her curves in all the best possible ways. Her auburn hair hung loose, still curly for earlier in the day. "It does," he told her. "Having the respect of your brothers and Harry means the world to me."

"I know," she told him. "And Dad likes you too; he told me when we were home dealing with Percy that he was glad to see me with you because you make me happy and take such good care of Callie and me."

Oliver looked at Ginny. "I love you both so much." Then he kissed his fiancée.

When they pulled apart, Ginny looked at him. "Oliver, we should tell your sisters tomorrow morning. And then we can write letters to our families."

"Actually, I already wrote to your parents," he told her. "I wrote your father and asked his permission to marry you; he gave it with his blessing." He lifted a piece of parchment off his desk and handed it to her. "This was his response."

_Dear Oliver,_ Ginny read.

First I would like to thank you for the good manners you showed in writing to my wife and me to ask our permission to marry Ginerva. I must say this only increases my respect for you. My wife and I were very impressed that you showed us such respect by asking us before you asked Ginny. And my answer to your request to marry my daughter and adopt my granddaughter is yes, you may. Oliver, I would be glad to have you marry my daughter and adopt Callie. I would be very proud to call you my son-in-law. I wish you and Ginny all the happiness in the world, and I give you my blessing to ask Ginny to marry you.

_Sincerely,_

Arthur Weasley 

Ginny looked at Oliver. "You asked my father's permission to marry me?" She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "Oh Oliver! That's wonderful." She looked at the letter again. "You want to adopt Callie? You really want to adopt Callie?"

Oliver nodded. "I want to make it official. Almost everyone in the wizarding world thinks that she's my daughter including her. I just want it to be real; I want her to become Calandra Rose Wood when you become Ginerva Kathryn Weasley."

"Oh!" she whispered. She didn't know what else to say. Finally she found the words. "Oliver, I would like that very much. You are, in my mind, the only father Callie ever needs to know."

"So you want me to adopt her?" he asked softly.

She nodded. "She needs a father; you are an excellent father for her."

The next morning, Oliver called his sisters into his office where he was waiting with Ginny and Callie. Maria burst into the office right away. "Are you engaged? Oliver, did you ask Ginny to marry you? Is that why you need to see us?"

Oliver laughed. "I want to wait until Juliet arrives before I tell you. I want to tell both of you at the same time."

"Ginny, are two engaged? Did he ask you to marry him yesterday? Did you say yes?"

Ginny laughed at the eleven-year-old girl's eagerness. "I think we'll wait for Juliet before we tell you our news."

Juliet ran into the room just then. "Ollie, did you ask Ginny to marry you? Did you? Did you?" she was speaking so fast her words were running together and she could barely breathe.

"Yes, I asked Ginny to marry me yesterday," Oliver said with a sigh. "And she said yes. We're getting married this June."

"Yes!" Juliet yelled, hugging both Ginny and Oliver. "I'm so happy for you! You're really getting married. Did you take her to _Zio_ Ricardo's villa?"

"He did," Ginny told her future sister-in-law. "We had a picnic in the field near their house and then later in the evening, we had dinner with them."

"Did you meet our cousins?" Maria asked.

"I wanted her to," Oliver said. "But Emiliana was the only one who was home. Alessandro was on a date, Giovanni was working, Eliana was out with Pierto, and Elisabetta doesn't live at home anymore."

"Did you like Emiliana?" Juliet asked.

Ginny smiled. "She's very talkative."

Oliver laughed. "She's Italian; my mum says that Italians love to talk."

"Are you getting married because Callie's Oliver's daughter?" Maria asked naively.

"No," Oliver said severely. "We're getting married because we love each other. I love Ginny very much and she loves me, or at least I hope she does."

Ginny laughed and stroked his cheek. "I think I do love you."

Oliver's sisters looked at the couple. "They're so cute," Juliet whispered to Maria. "I mean, look at them. They're each other's perfect matches. The way they look at each other, the way they talk to each other, they just give themselves away."

Oliver smiled as he picked Callie from the rocker she was sitting in. He settled her on his hip and kissed her strawberry-blonde head. "You're my little princess," he whispered to her.

"See what I mean?" Juliet whispered to her younger sister. "He loves their daughter so much; it's so adorable. When I get married, I want to marry a guy like that; I want to marry a guy who is good with kids."

"A guy who loves children and wants a houseful of them," Maria commented. "I want a guy who has the same goals in life as I do."

"You're looking for Mr. Wonderful, aren't you?" Ginny asked Juliet and Maria. "Girls, guys like your brother are one in a million. They don't come along every day; they're the sons of good mothers and the brothers of good sisters."

"Then why is Percy such a jerk if he had a good mother and sister?" Oliver asked as he bounced Callie on his hip.

"Extenuating circumstances," Ginny replied. "We tried our best to make him a good guy but some lessons just don't take in some people."

At the end of March, the newly engaged couple went to the Weasleys' house to celebrate Callie's first birthday, Oliver and Ginny's engagement, and the birth of two new Weasley grandchildren. Alicia and George had a new daughter, Emily Sophia Weasley; Fred and Katie had a new son named Joseph Michael. Emily was born March 14 and her cousin was born March 15. The day was also the first of Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Ron's challenges for Percy.

When Oliver and Ginny arrived at The Burrow, everyone else was there. Katie and Alicia were in the living room talking to Penny and holding their new babies. "The guys are out in the backyard talking about Quidditch," Katie told Oliver.

"Thanks," he told her and then headed outside.

"They're devising ways to deal with Percy," Alicia told Ginny. "Now sit down. Your mother has Maya and Angelina penned up in the kitchen. The boys are outside with the guys and the girls are various places. Katie's daughters were playing dolls in the living room, as were Alicia's twin girls.

Ginny sat down but let Callie go play with Elizabeth, Rebecca, Molly, and Maggie. Then she started talking to her sisters-in-law. "Do you have any ideas as to what the guys are thinking up?"

Alicia shook her head. "No, Fred and George are letting Ron, Bill, and Charlie be in charge of this challenge since they've been so busy in the past two weeks since Joe and Emma were born."

"So I take it little Miss Emily is keeping you busy?"

Alicia laughed. "It's not so much her as it is Nick, John, Beth, and Becky. Having two sets of twins and a newborn baby isn't exactly easy. Nick and John are more trouble than Beth, Becky, and Emma combined. You'd think that twin four-year-olds would be less trouble than twins in the terrible twos and a newborn baby. But no…"

Katie laughed. "You're married to a Weasley twin. What did you expect your Weasley twins would be like?"

"I was hoping the goodness of the Spinnet family would rub off on them."

"What Spinnet goodness?" Katie teased. "Your siblings are all rascals and so are you. Now the Bells are well-behaved people but not the Spinnets."

Alicia rolled her eyes. "Please, you are not well-behaved."

"None of the Dumbledore grandchildren are well-behaved," Harry said as he walked into the room. "I was always in trouble at school. You two were always in trouble. Oliver was insane. If you're one of the Dumbledore grandchildren, you're not perfect."

Katie rolled her eyes. "I was a perfect little angel; I have no clue what you're talking about."

Harry rolled his own eyes. "Right, Katherine, believe what you want. I have to take this stuff to Bill. I'll be back later."

It was only as he was leaving that Ginny realized Harry was carrying a bag of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes with him. "What are they doing?" she asked.

Katie shrugged. "I have no clue. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I want to know."

Alicia nodded in agreement when suddenly the baby in her arms started crying. "You're hungry aren't you, little one?"

Ginny noticed Penny watching as Alicia began nursing Emily. Penny seemed a little curious and more than a little uncomfortable. "What's wrong?" Ginny asked her sister-in-law.

"I-I've-I've just never seen anyone breastfeed a baby before," Penny slowly answered.

"Really? Never?" Katie asked, shocked.

"I'm an only child and both my parents are only children. I've never been around babies before I married Percy and was around all your kids. Alex and Larissa were the first babies I ever saw up close."

"You're kidding!" Alicia squealed. "Oh my gosh! The first time I held a baby I was like two. It was either Harry or one of my siblings or another one of my cousins."

"Same here," Katie said. "And it was one of those three babies."

Penny looked at them. "You've been around babies your entire lives? Don't they get annoying after a while?"

"Nope," Ginny replied. "They can be tiring and frustrating but you'll never stop loving being around babies. The first time I held Callie in my arms, I was hooked; she's like an addiction. I can't go a single day without my baby."

Callie looked up at her mother just then. "Mama!" she cooed as she threw her arms up in the air.

"Callie!" her mother cooed back. She looked at Penny. "Callie's the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Not me?" Oliver asked walking in.

"You're second best."

He kissed her. "That's good enough for me. Now we need you ladies to come join us in the backyard at the Quidditch pitch. You'll see what we're doing. Now, follow me."

Percy was standing at the center of the Quidditch Pitch. "I'm not sure I want to do this."

"Oh come on," Harry said reassuringly. "This will be fun."

"What does he have to do?" Penny asked.

"Score seven goals on Oliver in two hours," Charlie announced as if he was announcing that he liked cheese pizza. "It shouldn't be that hard."

"It shouldn't be that hard?" Percy yelled. "Oliver's only one of the best keepers in the world."

"Fred and George are going to be beaters," Charlie went on. "Harry will be the Seeker, and Ron and I will be the other chasers."

"And Ron and Charlie can't give Percy any help," Harry added.

Penny shut her eyes as her husband, his brothers, Harry, and Oliver flew up in the sky. Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Maya, Ginny, and Hermione stood together, eagerly watching. "I wonder what will happen," Katie said with a smirk.

Percy scored three goals easily. "Oliver intentionally let those go in," Alicia said. "He wanted to make things seem easy at first but now he'll make it hell for Percy."

And Alicia was right. After those first three goals, Oliver stopped every shot Percy made. Percy was getting visibly frustrated. He was swearing and grunting. He was making stupid, hasty decisions that were ending up in him making more stupid mistakes. Angelina shook her head. "Percy needs to just calm down and stop thinking with his pride; pride always screws you over in Quidditch."

Ginny nodded. "Years of watching our brothers play Quidditch should have taught Percy that."

"Yeah but how much attention did he pay to those Quidditch matches?" Angelina asked. "Think about it. He probably went because he was a prefect but he wasn't that interested in Quidditch. He probably just read a book or something most of the time."

Katie nodded. "He never came to any of the parties or anything."

"But he did try to break up the parties," Alicia pointed out. "He never failed to do that."

At the end of Percy's two hours, he'd scored six goals. When the men landed, Bill shook his head. "You just needed one more goal to pass that task. We'll give you points for scoring six goals and for hard work and effort but you'll need to do better next time. But this challenge isn't completed. Fred and George are going to give you a pastry to eat and you have to not get mad about it if you're turned into a canary or anything."

Percy moaned. "Fine."

George handed his brother a Pasty. Percy eyed it cautiously and carefully bit into it. He chewed slowly and then swallowed with a look of fear on his face. Instantly, he turned into a chicken. "We charmed it so it would turn him into the animal that he most like," George announced. "And he's a chicken."

Ginny laughed as Oliver wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He pressed his cheek against hers. "Cold, love?" she asked.

"Why do you ask?" he asked as he pressed his palms against her neck.

"Argh!" she shrieked. "Because your hands and cheek are as cold as ice."

He smiled. "It is a little colder up in the air. But if you kissed me, I'm sure it would warm me up."

She rolled her eyes. "That is so immature, so third year. But we could try it sometime. Right now I'm thinking we should go inside and eat dinner."

He kissed her lips. "It worked," he told her with a smile. "My lips are warmer already."

She laughed. "Some days you are such a prat. I'm not quite sure why I love you or why I agreed to marry you."

"You love me because I'm hot," he joked. "And we're getting married because we love each other."

"No, I love you because you're smart, sensitive, loving, caring, and you're wonderful with my daughter," she told him. Then she kissed him. "I love you because you're the best thing that's happened in my life in a long time, tied for first with Callie."

After dinner and cake, the family went into the living room to open Callie's presents. Ginny and Oliver settled on a loveseat with Callie in Oliver's lap while Ginny opened presents. "This one is from Uncle Percy and Aunt Penny," Ginny said. "What do you think it is, Callie?"

"Doggie!" the baby squealed.

Ginny laughed as she unwrapped the package. "No, Callie, it's not a doggie. It's a dress. See, it's a pretty blue dress."

Callie clapped her hands together. "Doggie!"

Oliver smiled. "No, Callie, it's not a doggie; it's a dress."

Ginny picked up the next package. "This is from Grandma and Papa. Oh, look, Callie, it's books. Lots of pretty books, we can read these together before bed. And this from Uncle Charlie and Aunt Maya; aren't these pretty dolls?"

"Doggie!"

Ginny smiled as she opened the next present. "This is from Uncle Bill and Aunt Angelina. It's stuffed dog."

Callie grabbed the dog and hugged it. "Doggie!"

"There's also a dress for you. I think you'll like it." She picked up the next package. "This is from Uncle Fred and Aunt Katie. It's a toy broom."

Uncle George and Aunt Alicia gave her a box of stuffed animals, including a dog. Uncle Ron gave her a toy wand. Uncle Harry and Aunt Hermione gave her some clothes, a dress, a couple of shirts and a couple pairs of pants. Ginny gave her daughter some clothes and some toys. Oliver gave her some stuffed dogs; Callie was in love with dogs for some reason no one knew why. But Callie's favorite present was Oliver's dogs. She kept hugging them and hugging Oliver.

Ginny looked at Oliver. "You make both of us so happy. I love you so much."

A/N: Okay, so after many weeks of waiting you can finally read chapter 17. Aren't you happy? Please review and tell me if you like it or if I should stop writing. And I am thinking about writing a sequel to _When You See a Guy Reach For Stars in the Sky_. I'm not sure if I'll do it or not but I'm thinking about it.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: I still don't own Harry Potter. It all belongs to the phenomenally talented J.K. Rowling. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed; you guys are amazing. I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get this up but the play opened Friday, October 29 and I've been just a little busy. I'm already thinking up ideas for the sequel to _When You See a Guy Reach for Stars in the Sky_.

**Outlawed-little-angel:** Bridesmaids? Groomsmen? I'm not sure yet, obviously the Weasley brothers and Hermione, but beyond that, I don't know. If you want to see my paper on fruit fly genetics, email me and I'll email it to you.

**FredOliverGeorge111:** I'm so glad you loved this story and _When You See a Guy…_ It takes me a while to post because I'm so busy; I'd like to update more but I have things to do besides write stories.

**Riley:** It was an idea I came up with the night I didn't get to bed until, well, my AP Bio teacher got mad at me when I told her when I went to bed that night, so I won't tell you.

**Tardychick06:** Thanks for encouraging to keep writing. "Doggies" rule!

**Sarahamanda:** I'll keep writing.

**Son gomay vidal goku:** You have more now! Are you happy? And thanks for catching my mistake.

**Webster:** I'll write a sequel and update this.

**Dadswell:** I'm glad you liked it. I'll keep working on it.

**Lost Angel92:** I'm so glad you liked it. Here's the long awaited update.

I have a question. Why did my perfectly normal looking Cuban friend, Ben, have to go off and become REALLY amazingly HOT over the summer? I was used to him being normal looking. Why'd he have to go off and become hot over the summer?

Oliver looked at Ginny. It was a crisp, cool Saturday morning in early April a few weeks after their visit to the Burrow. "You know," he said slowly. "We have a wedding to plan."

She nodded. "We need to book a church and a reception hall, find a band for the reception, pick a caterer, and come up with a guest list. We also need to decide who will be in the wedding party, pick out dresses and tuxes, and decide where we're going on our honeymoon."

"You've really thought this out, haven't you?" Oliver teased. "Let me guess; you've had this all planned out in your head since you were nine years old."

"Actually, since I was seven, but close shot," Ginny replied, scooping her toddling daughter off the floor before Callie knocked over anything as she had lately become prone to.

Her fiancée shook his head. "Women! Why do you have to start planning your wedding when you're a child? Why do you start naming your children when you're nine years old? You don't even know who you're going to marry when you're nine years old."

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's just the way we are. I don't know why I've been planning my wedding since I was seven or why I've known what I want to name my kids since I was ten. It's just always been that way."

He shook his head yet again; he found himself doing that a good deal with Ginny around. "Do I want to know what names you have picked out for our children? Do you know how many children you want?"

She shrugged. "I was thinking about three boys and two girls, not including Callie. How many children do you want?"

"Seven, enough for my own Quidditch team," he replied with a smile. "But back to my original question," his voice was getting serious. "What do you want to name our kids?"

"If we have boys, I like John Paul, Timothy Daniel, and James Michael. For girls, I like Joanna Teresa, Elizabeth Katherine, and Anna Sophia," she said with a smile. Then she turned somber. "Do you want seven kids including Callie?"

He shrugged. "I just want enough kids to have my own Quidditch team; we could have seven kids including Callie if you'd prefer things that way."

"It would probably mean being in labor once less time," she said.

He smiled. "Well, if that's what you want."

She nodded. "That's what I want."

"Then that's what we'll do," he kissed her. "Now let's get back to planning this wedding."

Ginny smiled. "All right, when do when want to have the ceremony?"

"July," Oliver said immediately. "It gives us more time to plan." Ginny nodded, seeming like that wasn't exactly the answer she was hoping for. Oliver looked her in the eyes. "Gin, when do you want to have the wedding?"

"June," she whispered softly. "I don't know why but there's something that's just so romantic about June."

Oliver sighed. What was it with girls and June weddings? What was so romantic about June? Why was it more exciting than May and July? He decided to make the first of many compromises he would make after their wedding. "All right, we can get married in June. What day should we get married?"

She shrugged. "I hadn't thought about that very much. What do you think?"

"June 25 at noon," he said, just thinking off the top of his head. "It seems like a nice date."

His fiancée shrugged. "That sounds good." She looked at her little daughter in her arms. "Hmm, Callie, what do you think? Do you think Mummy and Daddy should get married on June 25?"

"Mummy! Daddy!" Callie announced, clapping her pudgy little hands together. "Doggie!"

Oliver laughed. "Well, Mummy and Daddy will get married on June 25, but I'm not sure about the doggie bit. I don't know if Professor Dumbledore would let us keep a doggie in the castle."

"Doggie! Doggie!"

"Maybe," Ginny said firmly. "We might get a dog after the wedding." She emphasized the might even though she knew Callie didn't understand.

"So, who will be in the wedding party?" Oliver asked. "And don't say Fred and George. I don't want them to charm my robes to be orange instead of black as you're walking down the aisle."

Ginny smiled. "I was thinking Hermione would be my matron of honor; Alicia, Angelina, and Katie are my sisters-in-law and your cousins so I figure they should be my bridesmaids. And you can pick your own best man and groomsmen."

Oliver smiled. "Thank you; I appreciate that. Well, Harry helped you out after Michael raped you, so he should be one of my groomsmen."

"He's also your cousin," Ginny pointed out.

"Very true," Oliver conceded. "I want Charlie to be my best man and Bill and Ron to be my other groomsmen."

Ginny smiled. "Well, we have a wedding party and a date; now we have to plan the little details. But first, do we want Alex and Larissa to be our Ringbearer and flower girl?"

Oliver nodded. "It makes sense to have them in the wedding. After all, they're your niece and nephew."

"All right, Alex and Larissa are in the wedding party," Ginny confirmed. "After all, they'll be adorable. Where should we have the wedding and reception?"

"Umm, well, I was thinking we should have the wedding at the church where my parents got married thirty years ago and then we can have the reception in your parents' backyard."

"That sounds lovely," Ginny sighed. "And romantic too. What does the church look like?"

"It's an old Gothic church in the town I lived in growing up. (A/N: does anyone know the names of any small Scottish towns?) It's St. Andrew's Church. My Grandmum Wood says it's been there since the dawn of time; at any rate, it's almost five hundred years old. It's a beautiful old church," Oliver smiled. He knew Ginny would love it.

Ginny smiled. "That sounds romantic. Are we going to have people Apparate or use a Portkey to get to my parents' house?"

"They can Apparate if they want to but we should have Portkeys available for the children."

"Sounds good. What band should we have at the reception?"

"Burgundy7," Oliver answered immediately. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's a cheap take-off of Maroon5 but hey, my imagination doesn't work at ten in the morning.)

"And I'll let my mother take care of the food."

"I'll take care of the tuxes and you can take care of flowers and dresses."

Ginny nodded. "Sounds like a plan. I think we have the basic plan for our wedding."

"Now can the groom-to-be kiss the bride-to-be?"

"Definitely," Ginny said with a seductive air.

A few days later, Maria, Juliet, and Nikki came to visit Oliver after classes. "We have a question for you," Juliet announced sitting down on her brother's desk.

"Really? What is it?" Oliver looked up from the pile of tests he was correcting.

"When are you getting married?" Juliet asked.

"Does Ginny need any help planning the wedding?" Nikki added. "We'd be more than happy to help."

Oliver laughed. "I think Ginny and her mother have the wedding well in hand."

"But she doesn't have any sisters to help her plan," Juliet pointed out.

"No, she doesn't, but she does have five sisters-in-law who have planning their own weddings and they can help her plan her wedding."

Juliet crossed her arms against her chest and stuck her lower lip out. "But I want to help. I was so looking forward to planning a wedding."

"I'll ask Gin if she needs any help from you," Oliver finally relented.

"Can we be in the wedding?" Maria begged. "Please?"

Oliver looked at his sister's puppy eyes. "I'll talk to Ginny. I'm not sure what she'll say. She seems kind of set on having Hermione and her sisters-in-law as her bridesmaid."

"But I'm your sister," Juliet whined.

"You're my fourteen-year-old sister," Oliver retorted. "Katie, Alicia, and Angelina are like twenty-five years old. You're a little young to be in a wedding; they're more than old enough."

Maria moaned. "You're just saying that to defend your fiancée. Oliver Thomas Wood, I never thought I'd live to see the day when you'd favor your fiancée over your family."

"I'm about to start a family with Ginny," he told them. "I already have a daughter with her and I intend to have more children with her.

Maria looked at her brother. She hadn't thought about that before and she told her brother that. "I kind of forget that you have another family with Ginny. I know that Callie's her daughter but sometimes I forget that she's your daughter too."

"I'm looking forward to your wedding," Juliet added. "But sometimes I forget that when you get married you're going off to your new life with your new family."

"But that doesn't mean I'll stop loving you," he told them. "I still love you; I'll always love you. You're my sisters and I could never stop loving you. But this does mean that our relationship will change. I won't be around as much but I'll still be there for you. If either of you ever needs anything, I'll always be there for you, and so will Ginny. We love you both very much."

Nikki looked at him. "What about me? Do you love me?"

Oliver laughed. "Nikki, you're Juliet's best friend; you're my little sister's best friend and that's all."

"All right," she said, resigned. "That's good enough for me, for now."

That evening, Oliver was playing with Callie and her stuffed dogs in Ginny's bedroom. "I can't see what she finds to entertaining about these things," he said as he held one in his hand.

"They're soft and they make her happy," Ginny said from her bed where she was looking at a bride's magazine. "And she can play with them safely; I don't have to worry about her hurting herself when she plays with them."

Oliver nodded. "Are you saying that someday we're going to have to get a dog to make her happy?"

Ginny shrugged. "It depends on where we're living when we get married."

A/N: Okay, so it was really short but it took me so long to write it that I just wanted to get something up for you guys. I promise you more stuff is on its way. Please review! (I want to pass 100 review for this fic.)


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Well, I still don't own Harry Potter. But on the upside, I have over 100 reviews for this story! And that's all thanks to you guys! Thank you so much!

**Sarahamanda:** Wait and see; they'll deal with Helena's baby in this chapter. I'll have to name a character after you for reminding me about that.

**TardyChick06:** Yeah, his sisters are great. I love them so much. You were also my 100th reviewer, so thank you very much!

**Dadswell:** Thanks for reviewing!

**Outlawed-little-angel:** No, Callie isn't in the wedding party; I really couldn't think of a way to fit her into the wedding party but she will be involved in the ceremony. I'm glad you don't want to see the paper; it's got some unresolved issues.

**Atomic Elf:** Thanks! It's a challenge; I'll tell you that.

**Son gomay vidal goku:** I fixed his middle name; thanks for catching that. I love the name Anna Sophia, too.

**Lemondrop101:** Eventually, after they get married, yeah.

**J:** Yeah, stop being harsh! Just kidding, thanks for reviewing!

**Webster:** I'm glad you like Nikki; she's actually **Lily Nicole Potter**, one of my reviewers. Nikki has a secret crush on Oliver, in case you hadn't guessed at that.

**Mrs.HarryPotter12:** I'm so glad you found the story. Yeah, Ginny/Oliver is great. I love writing it. Thanks for reviewing and thanks for being my beta.

Okay, so the next chapter is the wedding. This story is going to go until the birth of Ginny and Oliver's **biological first child together** and then I'll probably write a sequel. I'm so glad people are checking out _It's Only You Tonight_. That makes me happy. This chapter deals with the days leading up to the wedding and the birth of Oliver's sister's baby.

By the way, Oliver is going to do something with Callie at the beginning of the chapter that I have to explain. My boyfriend and his younger brother were playing with my baby sister today and that's what Ben was doing. It's going to seem weird but hey, it was really funny to watch Ben and Joey do it. (But I must say I hope that Oliver has a better voice than Ben does. I love him, but voice lessons, sweetheart!) And yes, this is the song from _Miss Congeniality_ but hey, it was funny! (And don't ask me how my boyfriend saw _Miss Congeniality_; he has a sister, but she's twelve, so...)

Oliver scooped Callie up and swung her around. "You're one in a million, my little princess," he told her, kissing her forehead. Then he began singing, "You're one in a million for the rest of your life. You made me discover what life is about. You're one in a million, Miss Calandra Rose…" his voice trailed off as Ginny walked into the room.

She shook her head. "You do realize that you're crazy, don't you?"

He kissed her cheek. "I'm just spending some quality time with Callie."

"And singing strange songs from Muggle movies," she added. "Honestly, some days I wonder what I'm doing with a guy like you."

"You love me," he replied, kissing her.

"Hey, not in front of Callie! I actually came in here to tell you something."

"And what was that? Did you come to tell me how much you love me?"

"I love you more than words, but that's not why I'm here. Your mother just sent me an owl; Helena's in labor at St. Mungo's. You should go there."

"But what about packing?" They were preparing to move from Hogwarts to Oliver's house just outside of London. Ginny wasn't crazy about the idea of living with Oliver for the next week before their wedding but staying at Harry and Hermione's flat or the Burrow was simply out of the question. The Burrow was filled with last minute preparations for the wedding reception and all the clothes for the wedding party were all over Ginny's old room at Harry and Hermione's place; also, Hermione had a newborn baby and didn't need any more stress on her hands than she already had.

Ginny put her hand on her fiancée's shoulder and smiled. "I'll take care of it. I'm sure I can get your grandparents to help me take our things to your flat. Your sister needs you, especially if we're going to adopt her baby."

"You really want to do that?"

Ginny shrugged. "Oliver, the baby will be your niece or nephew; he or she will need their family and we're the closest that baby will be able to get to Helena."

He nodded. "I'm worried about Beatrice," he confessed suddenly.

"Why?"

"I don't think she's learning her lesson."

Ginny nodded and stroked Callie's head as the little girl leaned her head against Oliver's shoulder, trying to comfort him. "You think she's being too pampered by staying at home?" He nodded as she went on. "I thought your mum was going to home school her and keep things as strict as she could."

"She was, but it's kind of hard to be that strict with her when she's not being that strict with Helena and Viola. So next year, Mum and Dad are shipping her off to Beauxbatons in France. Hogwarts won't take her back. My dad's sister, Marianne, is married to a Frenchman and they both teach at Beauxbatons."

His fiancée nodded. "And your parents are hoping this will inspire a transformation in her behavior?"

"And if it doesn't, they're hoping my uncle Francois will straighten her out. Mum and Dad are mad at Helena and Beatrice. Ophelia and I were never like that."

Ginny nodded. "You were good?"

He grinned like a little boy. "Well, I'd better get going. I'll see you girls soon." He handed her Callie and kissed both of them. "I love you, Gin. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. This past year, changing careers, watching this mess with Bea and Helena unravel, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been standing next to me supporting me, telling me everything would work out."

She kissed his cheek. "I love you. You've been there a lot for me, too. You're the best and I'll always love you the best."

They kissed even though she was holding a squirming Callie. Then he stroked her auburn hair. "I'll see you soon, darling."

She smiled as he walked out of the room, the taste of his lips on hers. In two weeks, they would become husband and wife. "Callie, that is the most amazing man in the world," she whispered as she turned back to the things she needed to pack.

Two hours and hundreds of spells later, all the boxes from Oliver's quarters and Ginny's quarters were scattered across the floor of Oliver's living room. Ginny had to get her things into the room she would be sleeping in until the wedding, Oliver's things needed to be in his room, and Callie's needed to be in the nursery. But right now, Callie was hungry and Ginny had a headache, make that a migraine. All she wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep but first she needed to feed her daughter. Thank goodness Callie was eating solid foods now; breastfeeding would have been impossible just then.

She fed Callie quickly and then lay down on her bed with the baby in her arms. She intended to just sleep for a few moments, but when Oliver got home six hours later, that was how he found his fiancée and her daughter. Ginny was strewn across her unmade bed with Callie snuggled in her arms. Oliver smiled as he saw them. "I'll just get to work on unpacking and let her sleep," he whispered. "She needs her rest."

And it was in Callie's room that Ginny found him at ten o'clock the next morning, snoring loud enough to raise the dead. She smiled as she saw the boxes surrounding him, some of them unpacked, others still waiting for their turn. She adjusted Callie on her hip. "I'll let him sleep and work on giving this house a woman's touch. Come on, Calandra, let's go make this house a home."

"Daddy!" Callie squealed.

"Shh, no sweetie, let's give Daddy a chance to sleep. He's had a long night; he needs his rest."

"Daddy!" the little girl shrieked. "I want Daddy!"

Before Ginny could shush the little girl, Oliver stirred. "Daddy's awake!" Callie squealed.

Ginny sighed as Oliver mumbled, "Let me sleep, Mummy."

"See, Callie? Daddy wants to sleep," Ginny told her daughter, softly. "Let's go downstairs and eat breakfast. Then we'll make the house nice and pretty for Daddy."

"Daddy!" Callie squealed.

"Shh," Ginny whispered, pressing her finger to her lips.

"Shh!" Callie yelled, practically spitting all over her mother and trying to mimic her mother's motion.

Ginny shook her head in exasperation and started walking downstairs. Just then, Callie yelled out, "Daddy!"

"What?" Oliver moaned from the bedroom.

"Go back to sleep!" Ginny yelled as she walked down the stairs. "You deserved it after last night."

Oliver quickly caught up to her. "No, this little alarm clock woke me up well and good," he said, kissing the top of Callie's head.

"So, how's Helena?" Ginny asked.

"Wonderful, she and the baby, our new baby, are both in good health and doing fabulously."

"Son or daughter?" Ginny asked.

"Daughter," Oliver said with a smile. "A beautiful baby girl with dark brown hair and blue eyes named Anna Sophia; she looks everything like Helena and nothing like Ed. The doctors say we can bring her home in a week."

Ginny smiled. "Can we go see her later today?"

"If you want to, although we'll have to leave this little loudmouth with Harry and Hermione," he said as he tickled Callie's feet. "Do you want to stay with your favorite godparents?"

"Mama!" she babbled, kicking her little feet.

Oliver shook his head. "She's hopeless, Gin. You're all she thinks about."

"Oliver, I'm her mother and she's fourteen months old. What do you expect her to think about?"

"Me?" he replied hopefully.

"No, sweetie, that's my job," Ginny said. Then she kissed her fiancée.

A few hours later, Ginny and Oliver were at St. Mungo's in the maternity ward with Helena and baby Anna. "So you two are going to adopt Anna?" Helena asked, concern filling her eyes.

Ginny nodded. "We're going to give her the best life we can."

"Can I see her sometimes? Like, can I visit her on weekends or something?"

"Of course," Oliver replied. "We want you to be involved in her life." But out of the corner of his eye, he could see hesitation in Ginny's eyes and he decided to talk to her when they got home.

Oliver walked into Ginny's bedroom after dinner that night. "What's wrong? Something was bothering you at the hospital. Come on, sweetheart, tell me what's wrong."

"Helena," she mumbled.

"Helena?" he asked. "What's wrong with my sister?"

"I'm not sure I want her around Callie and Anna."

"But she's Anna's mother!"

"Michael Corner is Callie's father but I don't want him near her!"

"But Anna will never know Ed! Why should we take Helena out of her life too?"

"I'm not trying to take Helena out of Anna's life!"

"Then what are you trying to do?" Oliver bellowed.

"I'm trying to protect her from the confusions of growing up in a family where she has a set of parents she sees every day and another woman who comes to visit on weekends. She'll wonder why Helena comes by and then we'll have to deal with everything years early than we would have otherwise. I just don't think giving your sister free reign in Anna's life is the best idea." At the end of her long rant, Ginny stood breathless, staring at her fiancée.

Oliver looked at Ginny almost as if seeing her for the first time. At the same time, he saw the sense behind Ginny's words. He loved his sister very much, but he saw his fiancée's point. It would be confusing for Anna to have two people who were her mother. He rested his head in his hands and shook his head. Then he sighed and looked up at Ginny again. "You're right, Gin," he said slowly. "It would be hard on Anna to have Helena coming and going from her life. Helena's going to be in France for the next two years and it just wouldn't be fair to Anna to have Helena coming and going from her life like she would. Helena and Anna will have the normal aunt-niece relationship until we decide that she is read to know the truth about Helena. We're going to raise Callie and Anna as a team; we're going to do this together."

Ginny squeezed his hand. "Together, Oliver and Ginny, we'll be making the decisions together."

Oliver kissed her. Then he said, "Just think, in a little under two weeks, we'll be married and I'll have officially adopted Callie."

"Oliver and Ginny Wood and their daughters, Calandra Rose Wood and Anna Sophia Wood," Ginny whispered with a smile. "We'll all be a real family."

"And that is something all four of us need. Anna needs a family; I need a family."

"Callie and I need a family. And best of all, I get to marry a man I'm madly in love with." Ginny kissed Oliver and then smiled. "You and Callie are the best things that ever happened to me and Anna only makes things better. I can't wait until the wedding."

Oliver smiled as she kissed him again. He loved her so much; she was so wonderful to him. She was willing to adopt Anna even though she clearly disliked Helena. Just then Callie started crying. "I should go to her," Ginny whispered.

Oliver nodded but made no move to release his fiancée. "Oliver, she needs me," Ginny whispered.

"But so do I," he moaned.

"She's my daughter."

"You're my fiancée."

"I'll be back soon,' Ginny promised. He let her go and she went to Callie's room.

A week later, Oliver and Ginny brought Anna Sophia Wood home. Ginny was sitting on the couch holding Anna while Callie sat in Oliver's lap and looked at her new sister. "Baby," Callie said, pointing at Anna. "Mummy, Daddy, Cawwie, and baby!"

Ginny smiled. Her daughter recognized that they were becoming a family. The wedding was just a few days away. At the Burrow, the Weasleys were frantically preparing for the wedding reception. In Scotland, the Woods were preparing the church for the wedding. And at The Rose Cottage, Oliver and Ginny's house, Hermione and Ginny were trying to make sure Ginny's gown and the bridesmaids' dresses would be ready for the wedding.

The night before the wedding, Ginny took Anna and Callie and went to the Potters' flat. She'd wanted to spend her last night as a single woman at the Burrow, in the room where she'd grown up but the house was full of pre-wedding mayhem, so she chose to spend the night with two of her best friends. Lily and James were four now, Sirius was two, and the new baby, Sarah, was six weeks old.

Hermione was as happy and bustling as ever, trying to keep her family satisfied. At dinner, Ginny watched with something akin to envy as Hermione listened to Lily and James chattering, supervised Sirius as he ate his chicken and green beans, and held a sleeping Sarah in her arms. Sure, Ginny was helping Callie eat and holding Anna in her arms, but Mione had Harry to help her. Ginny couldn't wait until her wedding when she and Oliver would be raising Callie, Anna, and any other children they might have together. She couldn't wait until tomorrow morning.

A/N: Please review! I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry it took so long to update, but life is crazy.

A/N2: Okay, so I have a beta reader, Mrs.HarryPotter12 now, so we're all happy.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Okay, so it seems some of you weren't crazy about Ginny's reaction to Helena and I think the reason is I haven't exposed Helena's true personality. I don't know how many of you have read _Remind Me How to Fly_ by IHopeForAnarchy (which by the way is a great story and you should all check it out, a little shameless plug for one of my favorite authors…) but for those of you who have read it, Helena is A LOT like Katie's sister Elizabeth was until chapter eighteen. Basically, she's really self-absorbed and she isn't ready to be a mother; Ginny wants to protect Anna from that.

**CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur:** SO glad you think this is an "amazing story." Happy reviews make me happy. J

**Lily Nicole Potter:** The Rose Cottage is a sweet name, isn't it? The wedding day starts as soon as I'm done writing notes to y'all.

**Gomay:** Okay, you changed your name; spell check likes your new name better. J I'm happy too. Anna's cool.

**TardyChick06:** I understand where you're coming from, really I do. Ginny just knows that right now Helena isn't ready to face motherhood. Eventually, she will have more involvement in Anna's life, just not yet.

**Pnl123:** I know the lyrics are wrong. Ben changed them to suit his purposes, so Oliver sang Ben's version. If you don't like Ben's version, go bomb Cuba. After all, he is the gorgeous but psycho Senor el Cubano. (His mother is from Cuba.)

**Sarahamanda:** They just don't like the fact that she's a nine-year-old stuck in a sixteen-year-old's body.

**Outlawed-little-angel:** First off, love you too! Secondly, I'm so happy you love the story. I hope this update is soon enough for you; I'm sorry my updates are so few and far between, but life is busy. Like right now, I have to get off the computer so my sister can write some dumb English paper.

**Dadswell:** yeah, we're getting there. I'm thinking maybe five more chapters after this, but the plot is in general winding down.

**Webster:** Well, here we have it; the long-awaited wedding is here.

On Saturday morning, Ginny woke up to the sound of her blaring alarm. She glanced at the clock and realized it was eight-thirty. She ran into the living room to find Harry sitting on the couch drinking coffee. "Where's Hermione? Where are Callie and Anna? Why didn't anyone wake me up sooner?

Harry smiled. "They've been trying to wake you up for an hour. Mione has tried everything. She had Anna and Sarah screaming, the alarm, all the little kids, and a radio, but you wouldn't wake up. So, Hermione decided to just leave the alarm in there and take Anna and Callie into Lily and Sarah's room until you woke up. James and Sirius are playing in their room and Mione has the girls in Lily and Sarah's room."

Ginny nodded. "Where's the coffee? I could really use some."

"It's in the kitchen," Harry replied. "No, wait, I'll get it for you. You sit down and rest. You're going to have to spend most of the rest of the day in high heels, so this is your last chance to rest your feet."

Ginny smiled gratefully as she threw herself on the couch and waited for her best friend's husband to bring her the much desired and much necessitated caffeine she always started her mornings with now that she was done nursing Callie.

A few minutes later, Harry placed a mug of coffee in Ginny's eager hands. "So, are you nervous?" he asked as he sat down across the coffee table from her.

She nodded, staring into the cup; she waited awhile before speaking. "I love Oliver. But we've only been together for eleven months. Are we rushing things, Harry? Are we going faster than we should? Are we rushing into this?"

Harry smiled at the redhead sitting across from him. "Gin, you love Oliver; he loves you. It's that simple. You two have known each other since Charlie was at Hogwarts. He knows you inside and out; you've known him since you were a little munchkin. You two will live a happy life together with a Quidditch pitch in the backyard and seven children flying around on it."

Ginny smiled. "Seven kids and a Quidditch pitch, now that would be all of Oliver's dreams come true."

"No, all of Oliver's dreams come true is spending the rest of his life with you, Callie, Anna, and any other kids you may have together," Harry replied. "Oliver is your Prince Charming and you are his Cinderella. You two are perfect for each other. It doesn't matter that you have a daughter or that you two have only been together for eleven months. What matters is that you love each other; you two want to be together. That's all that matters. You two love each other and you want to spend the rest of your lives together. Love, it's the most beautiful and most amazing thing in the world. Sure, Hot Pockets are tastier, but love is the best thing in the world. And that's what you and Oliver have together; you two love each other madly, deeply, and truly."

Two hours later, Ginny was standing in her childhood bedroom with her mother, Hermione, and her sisters-in-law getting dressed for her wedding. Everyone was dressed except the bride who was standing by the bed in her bra, panties, nylons, slip, hair, and makeup. "All right, girls, here it comes," Mrs. Weasley announced as she carried in the wedding dress.

"It's beautiful," Katie gasped as she saw the long white gown. "Ginny, you're going to make Ollie weak at the knees. You're going to be a gorgeous bride, a beautiful princess."

Ginny blushed as her mother and Angelina began slipping the dress over her head. She reached her arms up in the air and slipped them into the soft, sheer white sleeves. Angelina tugged the dress and shifted it, settling it in place. She gasped. "Oh, you're a vision, Ginny, you're a vision."

"My little girl is all grown up," Mrs. Weasley gasped. "Oh, Ginerva, you're so beautiful." She pulled her daughter to her and kissed her cheek.

"Oliver's so lucky," Katie gasped.

"He's going to die when he sees you," Alicia added.

Ginny smiled. "I can't believe I'm getting married."

Hermione lifted the veil off the dresser and walked towards the bride. "Let's get this settled on your head, Gin. Every bride needs her veil."

Hermione and Angelina settled the embroidered lace veil on Ginny's head. They secured it on her head with diamond barrettes. The veil had roses embroidered all around the edge; it was as long as the train on her gown. Katie gasped. "You look like an angel."

Ginny walked slowly to the full-length mirror and gasped. "I look like a giant snowball," she gasped. (My sister has been begging me to have a bride in one of my stories say that, so Charlie, are you happy now?) Ginny smiled. "I'm kidding; you guys made me beautiful! Thank you all so much!"

"Oh, I want to hug you," Alicia beamed. "But I'm afraid of wrinkling your dress or messing your hair up."

"I don't care," Ginny replied, hugging Alicia. "I don't mind wrinkles in my dress when they're from my sisters. I love you all and I want to hug all of you; without you girls, I never would have gotten together with Oliver."

Alicia kissed Ginny's cheek. "You're a beautiful bride. Oliver is the luckiest man in the world."

Angelina was next. She hugged the bride. "You're a princess to us, but you'll be the queen of Oliver's heart for the rest of your life. May you, Oliver, Callie, and Anna have a very happy and blessed life together."

Ginny hugged her sister-in-law. "Thank you so much. I'd give anything to be sure that Oliver and I will be half as happy as you and Bill are."

Katie walked up to Ginny and kissed her cheek. "You're an amazing mother and you'll be a wonderful wife. Gin, you and Oliver really will live happily ever after."

Ginny laughed. "Katie, you know I'm not the princess in some Muggle fairy tale. But thank you."

Hermione hugged Ginny. "We've been best friends for eleven years now. You were there when I walked down the aisle and when each of my children was christened. I was there when Callie was born; we've been together for all each other's important moments in the past ten years. You and Oliver are wonderful together. You'll have a wonderful life together."

Ginny kissed Hermione's cheek. "Thanks for everything; I love you."

Mrs. Weasley was last. She had tears in her eyes as she kissed her daughter. "My little girl is getting married. I'm so happy for you. You're marrying Oliver; I've loved him since your brothers befriended him years ago. I'm so happy for you two. I hope that you and Oliver can be as happy as your father and I have been together."

An hour and a half later, Ginny was standing with her father in the back of the church, waiting for her turn to walk down the aisle. Her father smiled at her as she patiently watched as Harry and Katie walked down the aisle. Then came Bill and Alicia, followed by Ron and Angelina. Hermione and Charlie came next and finally, Alex and Larissa walked down the aisle; Larissa was sprinkling yellow rose petals as she walked and clinging to her cousin. He was adorable in his little tux and she in her pale yellow sleeveless satin dress. The bridesmaids were wearing pale yellow dresses that resembled the bride's dress.

Suddenly, the organist struck up the wedding march and Mr. Weasley walked his daughter down the aisle. He saw Oliver standing at the end of the aisle and knew that he was about to hand his daughter over to this young man. Make no mistake, he loved Oliver like a son, but Ginny was his only daughter and he was handing her over in marriage.

When Ginny reached the end of the aisle, her father lifted her veil up to reveal her face and kissed her cheek. "Oliver, take good care of her," Mr. Weasley said as his daughter stepped towards Oliver and the priest.

"We are gathered here today," the priest began. "To witness the joining of Oliver Thomas Wood and Ginerva Kathryn Weasley in holy matrimony."

When they came to the vows, Ginny went first. "I, Ginerva Kathryn, take you, Oliver Thomas, to be my lawfully wedded husband for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death does us part."

Oliver smiled. "I, Oliver Thomas, take you, Ginerva Kathryn, to be my lawfully wedded wife for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death does us part."

"The rings, please," the priest said.

Ginny slipped the ring on Oliver's finger. "With this ring, I thee wed."

Oliver slid Gin's ring on Oliver's finger. "With this ring, I thee wed."

"Oliver, Ginny, I now pronounce you man and wife. Oliver, you may now kiss the bride," the priest said.

Oliver pulled Ginny to himself and kissed her.

The priest smiled and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great privilege to present to you Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Wood."

Everyone in the church applauded as the newlyweds walked down the aisle.

After leaving the church, Oliver and Ginny Flooed to the Burrow. There they met up with all their invited family and friends. Helena Wood spent twenty minutes analyzing Ginny's dress. Ophelia Wood had designed it especially for her new sister-in-law. "Ginny, you have GOT to let me borrow this dress when I get married," Helena exclaimed. "I love it. It's so pretty; I mean, it shows off all your curves and you look like a perfect princess in this. Ginny, promise me you'll loan me this dress when I get married." The seventeen-year-old was fingering the sheer sleeves of the dress and tracing the embroidery.

Oliver walked over carrying Anna in his arms. "Helena, I'll make you a deal. I'll let you hold Anna for a while if you'll let me have my wife back for a while."

"But? But? I was looking at the pretty dress," Helena whined. "Ollie, Ginny's dress is gorgeous. Can't I stare at it for just a little while longer? Please, Oliver? You'll have the rest of your life with her; I only get tonight with her dress."

Oliver snorted and rolled his eyes. "It's my wedding night; God willing I'll only get one of those in my lifetime. Helena, I'll let you play with the dress another day; tonight is the night I want to spend with my bride." As he said this, he handed Anna to Ophelia who took her over to Mrs. Weasley.

"Even though she's not a virgin?" Helena replied, crassly. "And you deflowered her almost two years ago. Everyone knows that tonight will not be the first night you two spend together. I mean, who knows what you two did every night at Hogwarts last year?"

Oliver hissed under his breath; then he spoke softly but severely, saying, "Calandra was the result of one night. I was drunk and she was drunk and lonely. We haven't been together like that since that night. Tonight will be the first time that we will be together really and truly." He grabbed his sister's shoulder and pulled her close to him. "Helena, if I ever hear you say anything like that again, I will personally strangle you."

Helena whimpered. "Oliver, you're an ass. I hate you and I wish you'd never been born. Ginny, you never should have married this puke head; you'll regret it for the rest of your life, I can guarantee you that." With that, she stormed off into the distance.

Oliver looked at his new bride. "Do you believe her?"

Ginny shook her head and kissed her husband. "No, I know you and I know her." She wrapped her long white arms around his neck. "Oliver, I love you; you're my husband and an amazing man. I don't trust Helena; I haven't since the day she came into my office and told me she was pregnant by Ed Jacobs but had dated four other guys since then. I couldn't believe it. Oliver, I love you, but I just can't stand people like your sister."

The groom stroked his bride's back. "Ginny, I don't think I've thanked you enough for all you've done for me this past year. You've been a perfect saint and angel."

Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Wood kissed passionately. "Shall we go off to celebrate our marriage?"

Ginny nodded and the two of them Apparated off to the Caribbean. The newlyweds were spending their honeymoon in the Caribbean while Anna and Callie spent the next two weeks with their grandmother Wood whom they hardly ever saw.

A/N: Okay, so I know someone you just aren't going to like this chapter but I'll deal with that tomorrow. Tonight, I'm dealing with getting my homework done and surviving the next week of rehearsals with opening night this Friday night. So, please review. I'm working on a Christmas OW/KB fic and then I'll update this and the other HP fic I'm working on.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: For the millionth time, I don't own Harry Potter. Got it? Good, glad to hear it. This chapter is going to be a little sad. There will be character death. I know I was planning on giving them a happy honeymoon, but I'm in a weird mood today.

**CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur: **I know! I'm so happy too! Thanks for reviewing.

**Gomay:** Issues? That's putting it kindly. I'm glad you liked the wedding.

**Outlawed-little-angel:** I'm thinking about five to ten more chapters. Then I'll write a sequel.

**Atomic Elf: **Yeah, she went way too far, but that's the kind of person she is.

**LupinFan227:** Thanks.

**Sarahamanda:** I will; I've been sick.

**Dadswell:** So glad you loved it.

Okay, so I need some reader input. I was thinking now that now that Ginny and Oliver are married and they have Callie and Anna, Ginny should quit her job at Hogwarts and be a stay at home mom. What do you guys think? Should I stop smelling my hair? (It smells like oranges; my little sister says I smell like roses.)

Oliver and Ginny were staying in a magical hotel in the British Virgin Islands while Anna and Callie stayed with Oliver's family.

Oliver looked at his wife. "Can you believe we're finally married?"

She smiled and kissed him. "Mrs. Oliver Wood," she said, playing with her wedding thing. "Mrs. Ginvera Wood." She sighed and laughed. "God, I hate that name. Ginvera, why did my parents have to name me that? Why wouldn't they have named me Jennifer or Sarah? Even Miranda, Minerva, or Cecilia would have been better than Ginvera."

Oliver smiled; his wife was so cute. "You're complaining about your name and you named your daughter Calandra."

"Calandra is a family name; plus it's pretty and it means 'like a lark,'" Ginny retorted harshly. "Besides, I like the name Calandra. My mum just named me Ginvera to make my dad happy; it was his mother's name."

"But you didn't name your daughter Molly?"

"Mum asked me not to; she hates her name. What about your name?"

Oliver kissed his wife's nose and laughed. "I'm not fond of it, but I've learned to live with it. When I was little, I used to wish my parents had named me something normal like Michael, but then I met Percy and I learned to love my name."

"Percival Damien Weasley," Ginny said in a haughty, mocking voice.

"Ginvera Kathryn," her husband looked at her seductively. "You know, your parents really had a thing for old fashioned names. Are we going to have to give our children old-fashioned names?"

The bride shrugged; she'd been married for thirteen hours now and she was still wearing her wedding dress. "I don't know. We already have Anna and Calandra; most of the names we've talked about are old-fashioned. We'll deal with it when the time comes."

Oliver kissed her collarbone. "That's all well and good, but I just want to get you out of this wedding dress. You're beautiful, but I want to do something else."

Ginny giggled as he became unzipping her dress.

The next morning, Ginny woke up entangled in Oliver's arms. She smiled as she looked up at his peaceful face; he was smiling in his sleep. She stroked his bare arms. "Oh, Oliver, I love you," she whispered.

Oliver woke up to the sensation of Ginny's soft hair against his bare chest. He smiled. He was holding his wife in his arms; his wife, those were the two most wonderful words in the world. He had a wife and two daughters now, family of his very own.

"You're awake," Ginny whispered softly.

He looked down at her. "Yeah. What time is it?"

"I don't know." She looked out the window. "It looks like it's around noon."

Oliver fished around on the bedside table and found his watch. "Twelve-twenty-two."

"We should have breakfast," Ginny said with a yawn.

"Breakfast in bed," Oliver said looking down at his wife. "That sounds like a romantic start to our honeymoon."

She grabbed her wand. "What do you want?"

"You," he told her with a mischievous look on her face.

"Be serious, Oliver," she warned sternly.

He moaned childishly, but then said, "Belgian waffles with strawberries and a nice cup of French Vanilla Coffee."

She waved her wand with a quick flick and there it was, a tray with two plates of Belgian waffles with strawberries, a cup of coffee, and a cup of tea. "Tea?"

"I happen to like tea," Ginny told her husband. "Coffee helps you wake up in the morning and tea gives me the perfect start to a good day."

"I thought I was the perfect start to a good day."

"Before I had you, I needed tea."

They ate in silence for a while until Oliver spoke up. "What are we going to do today?"

Ginny shrugged. "We're in the Caribbean. What is there to do but go to the beach or drink rum?"

After breakfast and showering together, the couple went down to the beach together. Ginny was wearing one-piece suit. "I know it's not very romantic or sexy, but I did have a baby last year. I'm not some perfect skinny twig anymore."

Oliver kissed the nape of her neck. "It's all right. I think you're perfect just the way you are. You're the most beautiful woman in the world as far as I can see."

His wife kissed his cheek. "You're not too bad looking yourself."

"Oh gee thanks," was her adoring husband's reply. "I feel so loved."

"You should," Ginny replied coldly; then her tone changed. "You are loved. I love you very much, more than anything in fact. Callie loves you and Anna loves you."

"In so much as a newborn can love anyone," came Oliver's sarcastic reply.

"You know, being so sarcastic isn't all that great for our marriage. We need to find a more open method of communication."

"Like what?"

She snuggled up against his body. "Sweet talking."

"You want me to sweet talk you?"

"Whenever you want to," she replied seductively.

"So, I can walk into your class in the middle of one of your lectures and just start sweet talking you?"

"I'm not sure about that one. For one thing, I'm not sure the students would appreciate that and for another, I highly doubt your grandparents would approve of it."

"Oh, I don't know," Oliver countered. "I think Grandfather used to walk in on Grandmum's classes and try to seduce her in the middle of her lectures. That's where my mum and her siblings came from."

"Umm, sure, I really believe that," Ginny retorted. "So, do you intend for our children to be conceived like that too?"

He grinned. "Yep, that sounds good to me. We'll just slip off into your office and have a bit of fun. Then nine months later…"

She slugged him playfully. "Shut up and kiss me, playboy."

He eagerly followed orders.

A few nights later, Ginny looked at her husband. "I miss the girls." They were eating dinner in their room when she made this announcement.

"What's wrong with me?" Oliver asked.

"Nothing," she replied casually. "It's just you're not my daughter. I love my daughters and I miss them. Until now, I haven't been away from them a day in their lives and they're so young. Is it really fair to leave them now?"

"Ginny, my mum has raised seven children; I think she knows how to take care of Callie and Anna."

"I know; it's just I love my girls and I want to be with them."

"I know," he replied gently. "I miss them too." Seeing the look in her eyes, he added, "Ginny, they're my daughters too and I do love them."

She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I know, I know. It's just sometimes, my mothering instincts kick into overdrive."

"It's all right. I still love you."

Meanwhile in Scotland, Julie Wood was trying to talk care of her two granddaughters. Callie was everywhere all the time and Anna was having trouble sleeping. Like most newborns, sleeping through the night was not on her agenda and Julie and Robert Wood weren't spring chickens anymore. "We can't keep up with them," Julie told her husband one night. "I don't know why we volunteered to watch them for two weeks. We should have followed Ginny's advice and let one of her brothers take care of them."

Robert Wood smiled. "Julie, you're not old."

"Those girls are making me feel old. I can't handle getting up at two in the morning to feed Anna for the next two weeks."

"Then ask Ophelia to help you."

Oliver's mother shook her head. "That wouldn't be fair. I promised Ginny and Oliver that I would take care of them."

"I think they would expect you to ask your daughters for some help. And if you really need help, Ginny said her mother and sisters-in-law would be more than happy to help you."

Julie sighed. "I guess I could ask for help."

"Julie, you should ask for help. Just ask one of the girls; I know Maria and Juliet adore Callie."

"Fine, I'll talk to them."

The next morning, Julie walked into the kitchen to find Maria and Juliet sitting at the table playing with their nieces. Maria and Callie were engaged in an enthusiastic game of peek-a-boo and Juliet was rocking Anna in her arms. "She's so tiny and so perfect. She's like one of those China dolls you see in Muggle toy shops."

Her mother smiled; both Juliet and Maria seemed to love their brother's children. Robert was right, as usual. He knew his children so well and he knew her so well. Maybe men aren't the fools everyone says they are.

But before Julie Wood could think about that anymore, an owl flew in through the kitchen window. She grabbed the letter it offered her and gasped. "Girls, we need to send Oliver an owl now."

Oliver and Ginny were sleeping in their bedroom when an owl flew into the room. The bird landed on Oliver's head and woke the young man up. "What's going on?" Oliver mumbled. "Whoa, what?"

Ginny woke up. "Oliver, there's an owl on your head," she mumbled. "It has a letter tied to its leg."

Oliver took the letter off the owl's leg and began reading it. "Oh my gosh," he gasped. "This has to be some kind of a joke. Ginny, read this and tell me that this is just one of Fred and George's jokes."

Ginny took the letter from her husband's hands and read it.

_Dear Ginny and Oliver,_

_I know this will come as a shock to you, but what you are about to read is the truth. Percy and Penny are dead. I don't quite understand all the details but it had something to do with a squabble with one of his ex-lover's current boyfriends. Percy and Penny had been out on a date, so Katie and Fred were babysitting Ethan. Mum and Dad are just wrecks; no one knows who will get custody of Ethan yet or what we'll do about the house and what's in it. Mum and Dad want you to come home ASAP. We need you._

_In Desperation,_

_Your brother,_

Charlie Weasley 

Ginny gasped and tears began welling up in her eyes. "It can't be real. This has to be some kind of joke. I know Charlie wouldn't lie, but it just can't be real. Percy's a jerk, but he's not supposed to be a dead jerk. He's supposed to be alive."

Oliver nodded and wrapped his arms around his wife. Percy had been one of his best friends in school, and even after Percy turned into a jerk, he still considered Percy to be a friend. For a long time, he just sat there and held his wife in his arms. "Ginny, I love you," he whispered into her head.

She looked up at him and smiled half-heartedly. "I love you too, Oliver." They sat there for a while more until she said, "We should probably go home, back to the Burrow."

Oliver nodded. "We need to pack and get dressed first. And I'll go down to the front desk and check us out."

"Thanks," Ginny replied as she climbed out of bed.

She walked to her suitcase and took out a black skirt and a gray blouse. As she brushed her hair, she felt tears welling up in her eyes. Oliver, who was only wearing a pair of black pants, came over to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "It'll be okay; I promise. I'll be with you and I'll help you with everything."

Ginny leaned her head against his chest, feeling safe in her husband's arms and knowing that he really would be with her no matter what.

A few hours later, the young couple was sitting in the living room at the Burrow with the rest of the Weasley clan. "Hermione has all the kids out in the backyard," Arthur Weasley announced as he walked into the room and sat down next to his sobbing wife.

Katie nodded and Ginny looked up at her father with something akin to recognition in her eyes, although she was chewing her lip uncertainly. Angelina was holding Bill in her arms, Maya was "feeding" tissues to Charlie, and Alicia was holding George's hand. Ron was blankly staring at a random spot on the wall, numb to the world around him.

"The funeral will be Saturday," Arthur told his children, blandly. "Ten o'clock at the town church, it'll be small and simple, per Mr. Clearwater's request."

No one really responded. Ron was still staring off into space, Mrs. Weasley was still crying, and the other children were clinging to their spouses. "Did anyone hear me?" Mr. Weasley asked. He was really starting to wonder if Ginny had heard him when he said that the kids were with Hermione.

Again Katie looked up at him and nodded; then she went back to leaning against Fred. Ginny kept chewing her lip and squeezing Oliver's hand. "Will you all be there on Saturday?" Arthur asked.

This finally got reactions out of his family beyond Ron's staring, Katie's nodding, and Ginny's lip chewing. "Of course we'll be there," Bill replied, his voice thick with tears. "Percy was a scumbag, but that scumbag was our brother. Angelina and I will be there."

"You can count on Maya and me," Charlie added. "But we'll need someone to watch the kids."

"Oliver and I will be there," Ginny started. "We'll probably ask his mum or one of his aunts to watch the girls."

"My mum can watch the kids," Katie said.

"She'll have to watch ours," Fred said. "Because you and I will be at the funeral."

Arthur smiled; so far four of his six surviving children had committed to attending the funeral.

Then Ron spoke, bursting out of his trance, "You can count on me, Dad; I'll be there." Those two sentences said so much more than were spoken. "I'm sorry. I'm not perfect, but I'll keep trying to make you and Mum happy."

All that he needed now was George's commitment. George was deep in thought for a while, then he spoke. "Alicia and I, we'll come. I may not have liked Percy very much, but he was my brother."

Arthur nodded with a faint smile. All six of his kids would be there; they would honor the brother they never liked. He looked down at his wife. "Molly? Dear, are you all right?"

Mrs. Weasley looked up at her husband with tear-filled eyes and spoke for the first time since learning of her son's death. "I think so." After a moment, she added, "I know so. Bad things have happened to us before and we've always pulled through. We'll survive. I love Percy and Penny, but right now, we need to focus on taking care of Ethan and ourselves. Life goes on."

She seemed perfectly calm all through her speech, but when she finished, she broke down crying again. Her husband pulled her close and held her in his arms as she cried. Ron ran to her side and put his hand on her shoulder. "It's all right, Mum; you can cry."

Ginny joined her brother. "Mum, we love you. We'll take care of everything; whatever you need, we'll do it."

"And we'll take care of Ethan," Maya added. At times like this, her Romanian accent was unusually strong. "You don't need to worry about that at all; we'll take care of him."

Charlie nodded. "Maya's right, Mum. We'll take Ethan home with us tonight and he can stay with us."

"All right," Molly Weasley said through her tears.

"Whatever you need, we'll take care of it," Ginny told her mother. "We'll help you."

"You won't be alone," Ron said. "Just because Percy's gone doesn't mean the rest of us are going any place any time soon. We'll all stick with you. If you want more family dinners, we'll have more family dinners. I'll try to find a wife."

His mother laughed at that. "Ronnie, you don't have to go find a wife to make me feel better. I want to see you married, but not unless you want to."

"Okay," Ron said. "I'll remember that."

"We're going to make it," Bill told his mother.

A/N: So, go ahead! Shoot me. I know you're going to hate me for killing Percy and Penny but I'm sorry; it's just what happened. Please just review and tell me if you want more. If you do, the funeral will be next chapter.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: I don't own Harry Potter. But I do own the plot, Callie, and Anna. I'm sorry I killed Percy but what's done is done. A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed.

**Gomay:** I understand. I didn't want to kill him, but his time had come.

**Sarahamanda:** I'm glad you want more. Here you go.

**FallenfrmGrace7:** Harry is married to Hermione, so she can't date Ron; that's just wrong. I'm going to have Ron date someone else. And as to who, you'll just have to wait and see.

**Dadswell:** My cat likes it too and he's glad your cat likes it. I'll keep going, but just for your cat.

**Kayliana Black:** Yes, ma'am! I'm so glad you love the story.

**TardyChick06:** It'll be interesting; I promise!

**Atomic Elf:** I hope this is terrific.

**Outlawed-little-angel:** It's an idea. I'm just a little reluctant to have two little girls running around Hogwarts. It just doesn't seem right.

**Callie:** Penny surviving doesn't quite fit with the future of the story. I liked her too, but as with Percy, the time had come. But I'm glad you like the story and it's cool that Callie's your nickname.

**Friendly Reviewer:** I know. It was this thing for one chapter to make a reviewer happy.

**Hippygirl:** Someone's happy. It's all right. They're gone, for good.

**Cynthia15:** Okay, so I also said they sent the children to be raised by other people because you can't have little kids running around Hogwarts. (At least in my world, you can't.) An Italian family raised Mrs. Wood; Ricardo Eusani was the son of the people who raised Mrs. Wood.

That Saturday, Oliver and Ginny walked into the church for Percy and Penny's funeral. True to Katie's word, Mrs. Bell was babysitting all the Weasley grandchildren, so Anna and Callie were with their cousins.

The church was hot, and the immense crowd only added to the stuffiness inside the church. Ginny was grateful she'd chosen a sleeveless black linen dress. Her mother had chosen a set of long-sleeved robes that would be warm and stifling today. Despite the fact that wizards were now allowed to choose between Muggle clothes or the traditional robes, many older wizards like Mrs. Weasley preferred the old ways.

Ginny and Oliver took their seats with the rest of the Weasley clan on the left side of the church. The Clearwater clan was on the right side of the church; actually, it was just Penny's parents, a few assorted aunts, uncles, and cousins, and one or two grandparents. Penny had been an only child. Ethan was at Katie's parents' house, but lately he'd been staying with George and Alicia.

There were two oak caskets in the middle of the aisle holding the bodies. Ginny knew that eventually she would have to look at them, but she just wasn't ready. Right now, Mr. and Mrs. Clearwater were there, so she decided she had time anyway.

Ginny looked at Oliver. "Why did this happen?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Sweetie, I don't understand this. No one does."

Ginny leaned her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I miss Percy," she whispered. "I know he was a jerk, but he was my brother and I miss him."

Oliver kissed her cheek. "Ginny, you're allowed to miss Percy. He was your brother and he'll always be a part of you; you'll never forget him."

She nodded. "He was one of your closest friends when you were at Hogwarts."

"Until he turned into the turncoat scumbag who would abandon his friends and family for fame, fortune, and power," her normally kind husband mumbled. "I swear, there have been innumerable times in the past nine years when I've wondered if the Percy Weasley I was seeing was the same person as the Percy Weasley who'd been my roommate at school."

"I know what you mean," she replied sadly. "We should probably pay our respects."

Oliver nodded. His wife clung to his arm as they walked over to the caskets. Mr. and Mrs. Clearwater had asked for Penny's casket to be opened; after much deliberation, the Weasley clan decided to have Percy's casket opened. Mrs. Weasley had been opposed but she had voted in favor of the open casket because of the Clearwater family having Penny's casket opened.

Ginny went first to the casket of her sister-in-law. Penny had always been a beautiful woman. Her honey blonde hair was combed straight over her shoulders and her eyelids were closed over her beautiful blue eyes. It was a great tragedy that someone so young, so talented, so beautiful had to die when she was only twenty-seven. Penny had only given birth to little Ethan Percival only six weeks earlier. Penny had just been too young to die; she had too much to live for.

Percy looked like he was sleeping peacefully and he would wake up at any moment. His red hair was neat and tidy, as always. Ginny shook her head; her brother had always been the odd man out in their family, never doing what anyone was doing. Neatness and order were his darlings. He couldn't stand the eternally joking natures of his twin brothers or Bill's "oh who cares?" attitude. He abhorred Ron's penchant for getting into trouble and Charlie's delight at being with creatures like dragons-dangerous creatures that ought to be avoided at all costs, according to Percy. Even Ginny couldn't find her way into her brother's good graces, thanks to her love of practical jokes; Percy said she was too much like the twins. Percy wasn't perfect; in fact, he was near impossible to love. But he was Ginny's brother; that was why they were there.

The actual service was brief; that was Mr. Clearwater's idea. He didn't want a big to-do, especially after her husband's ex-lover's boyfriend had killed his daughter. That situation was already unseemly to his social peers. He was a wealthy businessman with considerable political power in the wizarding world. He could not stand political humiliation; he had been furious when his daughter married Percy Weasley. That is, he was furious until Arthur Weasley became the Assistant Minister of Magic following Voldemort's demise. Then he thought that his daughter being the daughter-in-law of the Assistant Minister of Magic was the greatest thing on earth; all his social acquaintances thought that it was just wonderful.

There were no eulogies, also per Mr. Clearwater's demands. He didn't want people to hear about Percy and he didn't want to have to keep thinking about Penny. He had told Arthur Weasley that "My daughter is dead and now I would like to get on with my life. I don't want to sit and listen to sob stories about what a wonderful person she was and how she will be deeply missed."

The funeral luncheon reminded Ginny just how much of a society man Mr. Clearwater was. The funeral service may have been simple and subdued, but the luncheon was at a fancy restaurant in a wealthy wizarding district. The silverware was covered in leaf gold and the plates were china. As they walked in, Ginny whispered to Oliver, "I don't want to imagine how much this luncheon is costing Mr. Clearwater."

"I could tell you, but I'll wait until we get home to do so," Oliver replied.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"The Quidditch League had its end of the year banquet here the year I won Keeper of the Year and one of my friends who worked in the Front Office gave me a rough estimate as to how much the dinner cost, per plate."

She cringed. "I don't think I really want to hear the numbers on that."

Oliver smiled. "I'll just tell you Mr. Clearwater spent a pretty pence on this luncheon."

She shook her head. "I'm so glad my father doesn't go off throwing around money. Of course, he just started really making money a few years ago when Fudge resigned and he became Tonks's Assistant Minister of Magic."

As they sat down with Katie, Fred, Alicia, and George, Oliver said, "I still can't believe that the magical community has accepted Nymphadora Tonks as Minister of Magic."

"Especially on the days when she has magenta hair," Fred commented.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day when we'd have a Minister of Magic who could and would change her appearance whenever she wanted to," Ginny said.

"It's a sight," Alicia said. Alicia worked at the Ministry of Magic in Public Relations. "I remember the day they announced she was the new Minister; people flipped. For months, we would get hundreds of owls a day with letters about how she was too young or unqualified or whatever. Most of what it boiled down to was either that she's a woman or that she's a metamorphmagus. We still get a lot of mail about it but nowadays most of it's about Remus."

Tonks, who still insisted on being called by her surname, had become Minister of Magic five years earlier. Following Voldemort's demise, the Ministry of Magic had conducted an internal investigation that, combined with the scandal that had ensued following Ginny's fourth year at Hogwarts, had left Cornelius Fudge with no choice except to resign gracefully. To the shock of almost every British wizard alive, and most of the dead ones, Nymphadora Tonks was named his successor due to that skill, valiant acts, and diplomacy she had displayed during the War. This had shocked the robes of many people because she was so young, she was a woman, and she was a metamorphmagus.

Tonks insisted on further shocking people two years later by marrying Remus J. Lupin. The metamorphmagus and the werewolf, yep, that one had definitely been a scandal. People around the wizarding world were still talking about it.

During lunch, Charlie looked around the table. Seeing that Ron was occupied talking to their parents, he eyeballed his other siblings and their spouses. "So, who wants to see Ron settle down and get married?"

Immediately, everyone said they would.

"Well, I have a plan that could see him married in the next two years."

"Who are you going to brainwash?" was Bill's immediate response.

"Oh, shut up!" Charlie replied. "Why were you born?"

"Because Mum and Dad had to start someplace?" Fred suggested. "Even if it was with a weird annoying punk."

"You can shut up whenever I think you should," was Bill's witty response.

"Okay, everyone cut it out," Maya interjected. "Charlie, what's your plan?" Her husband hadn't even told her what was going on.

"Since everyone is done interrupting me, which by the way was very rude, but I'll ignore that since I'm a nice guy, I'll tell you my plan now. You guys all remember Maya's younger sister, Gabriella?" Everyone nodded and Charlie went on. "Well, Gabriella is twenty-one and she's moving to England next month."

"So?" George asked. "What's to say that she'll date Ron? Just because Maya fell for you that doesn't mean her sister will fall for your brother."

"You two are very different people," Maya pointed out. "And furthermore, Ella and I are even more different. The chances of this actually working out are slim to none."

"That's where I'm right and you're wrong," Charlie announced proudly. "Ella once told me that she liked Ron."

"When did she tell you that?" Maya asked. "Was it before or after the three little bears told you to stop sleeping in their beds and that they loved your golden curls?"

"Woman, you have no idea what you're talking about!" her husband replied. "I never was Goldilocks; that was Fred. Ella actually did tell me this once in the real world; she told me that when your family was here when Roman was born."

"Honey, that was over a year ago," Maya protested. "Are you sure she's still interested?"

"I'm hoping she is," he replied. "But if she's not, I have a back-up plan, or rather, Fred has a back-up plan."

"You do?" Katie asked.

"I do," Fred replied. "As you might recall, I have an employee who thinks that Ron is a 'total sex god.'"

"And she's not some psycho, perverted stalker?" his wife asked.

"No, she's Jennie LaFleur," the redhead replied calmly.

"Oh, she's safe," Katie replied.

A week later, Gabriella Braga arrived in England to live with her sister and brother-in-law. Charlie's plan could begin.

A/N: I know it was short, but today was a snow day and I wanted to get it up for you guys today. Finals start on Friday so I probably won't update before next Tuesday-when they end.


	23. Chapter 23

Okay, so I abandoned this story months ago and I'm sorry. My muses are dead and I doubt I'll ever take up writing this story again. I'm really grateful for all the supportive reviews and help I got from all of you. I miss the story but I can't come up with any new ideas. If anyone wants to take over the story, email me and we can talk.

God bless you and thanks so much!

Lia


	24. Chapter 24

Okay, so Fallenfrmgrace7 is taking over the story. She didn't steal it; I gave it to her. So, yeah, read it. It's fine with me that she has it.

Lia06


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